


Glass Knives

by Katrandom



Series: The Hitman Chronicles [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Actual Murder, Attempted Murder, Blood and Gore, Detective!Gabriel, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Family Dynamics, Graphic Description of Corpses, Hitman!AU, Hitman:76, I should mention this is only 43 percent serious, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mental Illness, Mentions of abuse and torture, Minor Character Death, Murder Mystery, Mutual Pining, Post-Omnic Crisis, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, and shooting at people, descriptions of violence, lots of dorks in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2018-12-09 21:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11677884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrandom/pseuds/Katrandom
Summary: A Hitman: 76 and Detective Reyes fanfic.The heart of Wyoming is the last place one would expect to find an elite government task force of individuals who's soul job is tracking and eliminating hitmen. Senior Detective Gabriel Reyes, head of the Hitman Investigation Department, has had his fair share of encounters with a variety of hitman but when Soldier:76, the man who'd nearly succeeded in killing him years ago, resurfaces things change fast for both men.Together the pair must now work to take down the dormant empire of extortion before it has a chance to reawaken. But who will fall first?





	1. Oct 2 09:00

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse the information dump. The first few chapters contain a lot of information but once the main arc starts it should even out.  
> I want y'all to know I started this in May, so yeah. A while ago. I'm excited.
> 
> This has nothing to do with the Hitmen video games or any other media, except for Bones, maybe. I just really like crime dramas.
> 
> There are a butt ton of background pairings but r76 is the main focus so I don't wanna really flood the tags.

** October 2, 2076 – 09:00 - Gibraltar, Wyoming **

_‘Why does this shit always happen in the morning.’_

Detective Reyes grumbled to himself as he ducked under the ‘do not cross’ tape and into a narrow alley. Graffiti and filth cover the walls and dumpsters that crowd the passage. The forensics team was nearly done cataloguing and bagging the area.

They’d gotten very well acquainted with this particular alley the last few weeks. This would be the third time this month that they’d been dragged out of the lab to pull a body out of the gutter. There was a fresh tag that looked suspiciously like something he’d seen doodled in the margins of Fawkes’s last report.

Dr. Zeigler looked to be finishing up her field exam on the victim with McCree standing by. All that was visible of the body was a blue arm.

“Who do we have here?” Reyes grumbled.

McCree whipped around and gave his partner a blinding smile before handing him a paper coffee cup. Reyes could forgive the sunshine-y morning attitude if he was being offered caffeine.

“Hitman under the call sign ‘Widowmaker’ aka. Amelie Lacroix. Went missing about five years ago at her final performance as a prima ballerina in Paris, France. First confirmed kill was her husband Gerard Lacroix four months later. Put a bullet clean through his head from the roof of a building two blocks away.”

Reyes gave a low whistle as he crouched down next to Zeigler. Lacroix’s entire body was an odd shade of blue. The cause of the discoloration was unknow but it was a previously documented trait. What wasn’t documented were the extensive bruises and laceration decorating her corpse.

“Any idea of what happened?”

“It appears she was beaten to death, just like the others. Though it seems a little more violent than the last two,” Dr. Zeigler said, not bothering to face him as she pointed to a hand-shaped bruising on her neck, “Her gun was found covered in blood behind the dumpster.”

“They beat her with her own weapon? Yikes. Do we at least have finger prints this time,” Reyes asked as he stood back up and made his way over to the tarp full of evidence that had been set up.

“Don’t need them,” McCree drawled as he followed him over and picked up a small evidence bag. He hesitated before handing it over to his partner, “Killer left a calling card this time.”

The detective was quick to grab the bag. Inside was a plain cream colored card with a light smear of blood across the edge. Reyes turned the bag over slowly to reveal the seal of the United States Embassy with the number ‘76’ written across it in blood. His heart skipped.

“Shit.”

“Yup, seems your old friend, 76, is back in town.”

Reyes closed his eyes and rubbed his side as memories of a handsome blond officer came rushing to him.

Why Ana had insisted on dragging him along to the Fireman’s Charity ball when she had a perfectly good mystery novelist that would willingly schmooze with Commissioner Adawe was beyond Gabriel. The only good thing about the night was free booze and a cute secretary that he had turning red just by winking at them.

It wasn’t until the last guest arrived that Gabriel started paying attention to the crowd.

_'Gold' was the first word that popped into his mind as the man entered the room, quickly followed by broad and handsome. Gabriel shifted ever so slightly to watch as the new arrival effortlessly danced his way through the crowd, winding through politicians and flirting with every lady he passed until he seemed to disappear._

_Ana giggled as she had watched Gabriel push his way into the crowd. He could almost hear the teasing remarks he would receive later as he finally spotted the man again._

_To Gabriel’s surprise, and the councilman’s wife’s dismay, the man immediately turned to him and introduced himself as James Hendricks. The two hit it off instantly._

_As the night drew on, Gabriel realized that James seemed familiar. He felt as though he’d seen the face before but brushed it off as being paranoid. James had mentioned something about being a part of the Omnic Crisis so perhaps they had met briefly in the field. Gabriel couldn’t really bring himself to care._

_At some point, they had shuffled into a vacant room to continue a rather heated discussion about the final strike on the Omnium in Russia without startling some of the more ‘refined’ guests. Gabriel had said something about how omnic joints would freeze up during the battle when James was suddenly much closer than he had been._

_Hands slid along his waist and Gabriel soon found himself pinned to the wall. Cold blue eyes boring into his before their lips met._

_The rest of scene went by in a blur as Gabe swept his arms up to hook around James’s neck to pull him closer, only to accidently swipe his sleeve across his face._

_The smear of foundation never fully came out of that jacket but then again, neither did the blood._

Reyes shook his head as he remembered how all the life had drained out of James’s eyes when the façade was cracked. In just a few second ‘James’ was replaced by a snarling mongrel with an oversized handgun.

_Before Gabriel had any time to react a silenced gun was planted firmly in his ribs._

_“Esparza sends his regards,” the hound growled before pulling the trigger and sending Gabriel to the ground. His head met the granite floor with an echoing crack, the last thing he registered was a shaking hand slipping a card into his breast pocket and uneven steps leaving the room._

The sight of the scars and dark rings he had accidentally uncovered under 76’s eye still haunted Gabriel’s dreams. It wasn’t until after he woke up in the hospital that he realize why ‘James Hendricks’ looked so familiar.

“Gabe, you ok?” Jesse asked, putting a hand on his partner’s shoulder and giving him a gentle shake.

“No,” he replied simply before placing the card in a box and turning to look over the other bits of evidence. Broken chunks of reinforced plastic and glass were scattered in bags across the ground, “What are these from?”

McCree shuffled around to the other side of the tarp and bent over to pull out a large chunk of the plastic, “This, my friend, is the headpiece that our victim used to snipe with. It magnifies and displaces images while also giving readouts on wind speed and other factors. Oxton found this piece smashed up beside the gun and smaller chunks behind a dumpster.”

“So 76 took her out on her terms? How the hell did he get her down from the roof?”

“That’s a real good question.”

Reyes stalked over to where Zeigler was and nabbed a pair of gloves from her belt. She swiped at him halfheartedly even as she helped Oxton hoist the body onto a stretcher and into the coroner’s van.

“I don’t know if we should arrest this guy or give him an award,” McCree mused as Reyes started picking through a dead bush near where the headpiece had been found, “I think he’s taken out more troublesome hitmen over the last two months then we have in the last year.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think taking out the competition counts as turning over a new leaf nor is it a sign of good intentions. Besides we haven’t fully connected him to last month’s body count.”

“You got me there,” McCree chuckled lightly. He turned and sauntered off to where Zeigler was starting to curse the outdated equipment she was forced to use. She didn’t seem to be having a good day either.   

Gabriel gave a noise of annoyance before turning back to the bush. All he was finding were more small chunks of plastic and assorted garbage.

“Hold on a minute- Oxton! Grab me an evidence bag, would you?”

“On it boss man!” she yelled, nearly causing Angela to drop the stretcher as she sprinted to the tarp, jumped over it, rolled, grabbed a bag, and sprinted the rest of the way over to him. He had to hold up an arm to shield his face from the gravel the younger officer kicked up, “Here you go!”

“Thanks. Next time, less theatrics, yeah?”

“No promises, sir,” she chirped before bouncing back over to help one of the techs start loading the evidence.

Reyes shook his head fondly before turning back to the bush and gently pulling out a receipt for a nearby grocery store. The time stamp was from the night before around ten.

“Alright people,” he shouted, calling attention from the circus act behind him, “I’ve got a lead. Lena, stay here and help them finish packing this up. Make sure you have everything photographed for Jamie and Winston to work with. Jesse, I want you to come with me.”

“Where are we headed to, partner?” Jesse asks as he trotted over to the tiny hovercar before squeezing into the passenger seat. He liked to joke that putting the both of them in there made it look like a clown car, especially when Gabe was having a bout of road rage.

“Kat’s Grocery Mart.”

“Oh?” Jesse hummed thoughtfully as he reclined into the worn fabric of the seat, “Used to go there all the time went I lived over here. Not the cheapest but they do have the best fresh produce in Gibraltar.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he glanced over to his partner. Leave it to Jesse to know everything about the grocery stores in this town, though Gabe supposed he had a pretty good reason. Jesse’s mother probably made him memorize every store location and layout where they lived so he could run errands for her during the day without having to worry about getting cornered by a rival gang.

Back when Jesse was a young and scrawny teenager, he ran with the Deadlock gang down in New Mexico. He bragged that he was their number one look out because of how good his aim and eyesight were. Gabe didn’t doubt it, especially after seeing Jesse land a shot on a suspect from a half a block away at a dead run.

And Jesse couldn’t run straight if his life depended on it.

Luckily for young Jesse, the owner of the restaurant the gang had been planning to hit was a very forgiving woman. Rita McCree had a criminal record bigger and older than most the boys in the Deadlock gang. Even if she hadn’t caught Jesse it was doubtful the gang would have been successful with their raid.

Rita caught Jesse scouting out her place and pulled him into the kitchen by the ear. She took him in, fed him, set him straight, and even adopted him. Mama McCree was a force to be reckoned with. She made sure nobody could mess with her boy.

Gabriel shuddered at the memory of her face when Jesse lost his arm when a police raid on the gang went wrong. He had his cuffs out just in case she decided to run off and demolish the gang with nothing but a cast iron skillet.

Gabriel tuned back into what was happening in the car only to find that his partner had started discussing the finer points of making chili with himself. A dorky grin was plastered across his face as he started imitating his ma.

“-and that is why we have spice warnings on the menus for even our mildest chilies,” Jesse said as they pulled into the parking lot, “Ma said she once had an old white guy try to tell her the apple pie was too spicy.”

Reyes snorted before heaving himself out the car door and into the store with Jesse close behind. The place looked well-kept, one of the cashiers greeted Jesse with a broad smile as they walked up to the customer service office and asked for the manager. They were escorted up the stairs and into a small cluster of offices where they kept the surveillance tapes.

“We need to see the footage from around 10:15 last night, register three,” Reyes told the man helping them, “I would also like to speak to the girl who was working last night if she’s here, need to know if she saw anything strange.”

The man gave him a dead look before nodding and shuffling out of the room. Gabriel glanced over at Jesse who rolled his eyes and said something along the lines of ‘service jobs do that’. Gabe shook his head and turned to the screens in front of him before hitting the play button.

Sure enough, two minutes into the feed a tall man with impossibly wide shoulders and graying blond hair wanders up to the register with a golden retriever at his side. Gabe notes that the man doesn’t seem to have an even gait and the dog is almost herding him to the conveyer belt. He responds to the cashier’s questions with a light smile before handing her the cash and turning to the door. The camera there catches a perfect picture of the man’s face.

“Shit.”

Jesse sits quietly behind him. A knock on the table next to the stairs startles both officers away from the screen and to a young cashier who looks ready to cry.

“Mr. Edwards said you wanted to speak to me about something?” she managed to squeak.

Reyes looked over to his partner. McCree was better with kids then him.

“We just needed to ask you about a gentleman that came through your line last night, darlin’,” Jesse started, pointing at the image on the screen, “Did you notice anything strange about this man last night?”

“Mr. Morrison?” she said incredulously, “Is he ok? Did something happen? He seemed antsy last night but he said he was just meeting an old friend.”

“Wait, you know this man?” Gabe raised his eyebrows incredulously.

“Ye-yeah, he’s become one of our regulars. He started coming in about two months ago. He’s super nice and sometimes he’ll swap recipes with one of our office ladies. His service dog, Lucy, is a real sweetheart too. He lets us pet her sometimes.”

“How often does he come in?” Jesse asked before the detective could say anything.

“Every other day,” the cashier, Nicole, says, “He usually doesn’t come in so late but he told Matt, one of the stockers, that he had an unexpected visitor. Mentioned something about making her a surprise… Is he ok?”

The two officers exchange a look. Seems that 76’s visitor got their special surprise alright, but why? It was unusual for hitmen to go after each other and why was 76 hanging around in a grocery store of all places? Also, what was with the dog?

“Mr. Morrison is fine, we’ll need your contact information though, just in case something else comes up.” Reyes motioned for McCree to get it while he downloaded the footage.

After they questioned all the employees in the store about ‘Mr. Morrison’ they hopped back into their car and headed for the station. It seemed that no one had a bad thing to say about the man. The only complaint was from a particularly whiny deli clerk who didn’t like that service dogs were allowed in the store.

“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Jesse groaned once they arrived at the station.

“What did you expect? That a hitman of 76’s age and caliber would just fall right into our lap?” Gabriel snorted as they made their way down the hall. Satya gave them a curt nod as they passed the reception desk.

“Well when you put it that way,” Jesse said sheepishly as they got into the elevator.

“Going up?” called a voice from down the hall. A short woman in uniform turned around the corner swiftly.

“Chief Amari,” Jesse greeted enthusiastically, “get in here before Gabe gets the doors closed!”

“He better not close those doors or he’ll be on desk duty for the rest of the week.”

Reyes’s hand hovered by the button as he weighed his options. Ana stepped on before he could make a move and promptly shoved him into the wall before hitting the button for the forensic labs. Jesse laughed as Gabe steadied himself on the handrail.

“So,” Ana started as Gabriel straightened and pretended to dust off his jacket, “how’s the investigation going?”

“Better than we expected. Not only did the killer leave a calling card but he also left evidence that we traced back to a grocery store,” he said. The three stepped into the lab, Jesse immediately took the footage over to where Fawkes was having a heavily one sided conversation with one of the giant clean-up guys.

“I heard about the calling card. How are you doing?” Ana asked sympathetically.

“I’m fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Gabe, I am not above sending you to talk to the psychologist. If it is too much tell me.”

Gabriel fixed her with a glare as she swept by him and into the lab where Lacroix’s body was already laid out and being prepped for autopsy. Angela was breezing back and forth between the tables with Winston close by. Even from a distance he could see the dark marks marring her otherwise flawless blue skin. Gabriel could only imagine the kind of beating she took to receive such marks.

Ana had a few words with the analysts before walking back to Gabriel and taking him to her office. The room was softly lit and smelled of tea. Pictures of Ana’s daughter and late husband dotted the shelves. Gabriel sank down into one of the armchairs as Ana rounded her desk and plopped into her chair.

“So Fareeha is coming home for the weekend next week and I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner.”

Gabriel blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic, “Of course I want to come over and see my god daughter, what kind of question is that?”

Fareeha had just left in August for college in Colorado. With her gone everything had been almost unbearably quiet. It was almost like he’d lost another daughter…

Gabriel shook his head violently to rid himself of that train of thought. He didn’t need to have another breakdown in Ana’s office. The sad look she was giving him wasn’t helping though.

“Well I’m glad to hear that. Jesse and Reinhardt are coming too. I think Fareeha said something about bring one of her new friends up with her too.”

“Well I’m glad to know she’s making friends.”

Ana hummed in agreement, “She said she was having some difficulty but she started working for the school and met some very nice people. She loves it out there.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence before the door violently swung open an a very disheveled McCree burst into the room. He was breathing hard and had a slightly crumpled letter in his hand. Both senior officers held their breath when they noticed the tears rolling down his face.

“Y-You didn’t,” he sniffled with a shaky smile.

Ana’s face broke into a broad grin as she hurried over to the sobbing cowboy and pulled him into a tight hug. Gabe grabbed the letter from his shaking hands and read it. He couldn’t help the pride that swelled in his chest as he threw an arm around Jesse’s shoulders.

“Good job, vaquero,” he said as he set the FBI acceptance letter down on the desk.


	2. Oct 2 19:00

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I lied, here's an extra chapter.

** October 2, 2076 – 19:00 – Watchpoint Apartments **

 

Rain trickled down Gabriel’s neck as he hustled across the flooded street. The flickering lights of ‘Watchpoint Apartments’ stood proud in front of him as he neared the brick complex. The out of date décor greeted the detective as he swept past rusted mailboxes and the baby grand to the elegantly curved stairs. A trail of grease marked the path of the resident mechanic.

Gabriel ascends to the second floor where he is greeted by the odd blend of tea, smoke, and hot metal lingering in the air. He slows his pace as he heads to the end of the hall and glances at each of the doors he passes, each painted to match the lives inside.

_“-I don’t care that you have to work tomorrow! I want-“_

_“-No. No. Mama, por favor, escucha. No. Ma-“_

_‘~I’m not lock in here with you, you’re locked in here with me~’_

_“-Jenny get back here. It is bedtime young lady-“_

_‘~Been a long time gone. No, I ain’t hoed a row since I don’t know when~’_

Gabriel chuckles as he pulls out the keyring on his belt, the sounds of the mother and daughter scuffling across the hall remind him of a simpler time. Idly he brushes his fingers over the small hand print that is nearly obscured by the scrawling images of owls and sugar skulls that adorn his own door before pushing the door open.

Darkness greets him.

Slowly and stiffly, Gabriel dumps his bag onto the loveseat and contemplates just passing out on the couch to nature documentaries again. He makes a face and glares at the TV before sighing and shuffling to the kitchen.

The kitchen counters are bare. The cupboards are filled with empty dishes. Hell, the only thing that seems full in the room is the dishwasher.

He should probably empty that soon.

Meh.

Gabriel shrugs and makes noncommittal sounds to himself before opening the fridge and digging out a two-day old box of lo mein, complete with dried noodles stuck to the side. For a moment he eyes the box and then the container of cat treats on the shelf next to the microwave.

God, he was desperate.

Without much fanfare, he shovels the noodles into the last clean bowl from the cabinet and stuffs it in the microwave. Dad and Mama McCree would hang him with a dish towel if they ever saw the state of his kitchen had descended to over the last two years. His dad would probably complain about wasting all that time forcing him to memorize his great-grandma’s cookbook. Mama McCree would probably start making Jesse come over to cook for him… again.

The microwave screamed and prompted him to take his now slightly warm Chinese to the couch where he flopped onto the loveseat next to his bag and flicked the TV onto whatever garbage was playing on TLC tonight. Slowly he relaxed into the cushions and let the sound of Ms. Fashion police squealing at some poor woman over her fashion choices wash over him.

He hadn’t always been this pathetic. Not to say he was a hapless slob that did nothing but watch reality TV all; but he had once been a much more motivated man both at home and in the field.

Seven years ago he moved from his home in LA to accept an offer to become the lead detective for a specialist team in the Gibraltar Police Department. The move had been rough trying to acclimate to both the culture of the Midwest and the sudden distance from his family. If it hadn’t been for his prior friendship with Ana and the kindness of the McCrees he probably wouldn’t have made it here.

Gabriel smiled to himself as he remembered being introduced to his unit the first day. The hodge podge of personality and nationalities was startling, it wasn’t until Ana explained what they were going to be that he understood.  They were going to be hitman specialists.

Hitmen traditionally were not a huge problem. Obviously people conducting assassinations weren’t a good thing but they weren’t a common occurrence. When the Society of Hitmen emerged it was grounds for concern. Reports of athletes and war heroes were the first clue to the rise of the Society followed by artfully crafted heists and murders. The capture of one hitman, formerly an Olympic gold medalist, yielded no results, only the knowledge that they were conditioned.

The team stayed under the radar searching for hitman activity at first but as tensions ran high they slipped. Liao was taken out during a raid on a supposed hitman base and later Gabriel was nearly taken out at the charity event. The team was now smaller and ran a bit slower just to make sure everything was painstakingly secured before they made a move. Not that it mattered because not too long after the Society went dormant in the US.

A sharp clang snapped him from his thoughts. He listens and groans when the shouting starts. The language isn’t familiar to Gabriel, it sounds vaguely Japanese but if he were to guess he’d say they were speaking two different languages.

For about as long as anyone has lived here, apartment 23 has been vacant. In its heyday, the apartment was considered the best in the building until it was purchased by a drug dealer and turned into a meth lab. After the arrest was made no one wanted to invest the time or money into fixing the place up so it was left vacant… until a month ago.

The only person anyone had seen going in and out was a stocky Japanese man with an undercut and a nasty look in his eyes. You could tell whenever he was coming or going by the high-pitched rev of his Shimada Serpent motorcycle zipping in and out of the parking lot.

The first time Gabriel had tried to engage the man all he received a blank stare and a mumbled greeting before he retreated to his apartment. Mrs. Florence from the first floor reported having better luck. She had managed to weasel the name Arashi out of him by giving him a small potted aloe plant as a welcome present.

Apart from that event everyone else had given up trying to talk to the mystery man and many believed he lived alone in the apartment,  but Gabriel knew better. You can’t have a screaming match with yourself after all. Not to mention, Gabriel mused as he placed his bowl on the floor, you can’t bake without being home.

As odd as it sounded, the smell of baking breads, cakes, and cookies were a common occurrence next door. Often times it would start after one of the screaming matches or at random times throughout the day. Gabriel had left his home on more than one occasion just to nearly trip over a plate of baked goods. He didn’t take them at first (obviously) but after hearing Doreen from across the hall rave about them he broke down and tried them. It wasn’t like half the floor had come down with a debilitating meth addiction, he reasoned when he took his first bite.

Fucking

Delicious

It was almost infuriating how good it was. Gabriel could comfortably say that it was on par with even the idealization of grandma’s baking. At that thought he glared down at his half-eaten bowl of mushy takeout and then at the wall where the neighbors were still yelling at each other. Something hit the wall that he shared with them and sent his two cats skittering down the hall to investigate.

Short shot by in a streak of gray before hefting his fat butt onto the end table closest to the wall as Gloria scrambled onto the couch and into Gabriel’s lap. He idly stroked her as she watched the wall with wide yellow eyes.

“Better watch out Shorty, something might come through the wall next time”, he mumbled while turning the TV volume up.

As if on que, another object that sounded suspiciously like a pan made contact with the wall and sent Short tumbling off the table and under the TV stand. He glowered at Gabriel from his new position.

“Told you”, Gabriel said smugly, setting the remote on the arm of the couch before walking over and smacking the wall with an open hand. The noise stopped instantly.

It had taken everyone a bit of time to learn that the best way to stop the occupants of 23 was to just smack the wall or the door instead of trying to confront them or calling the police. It wasn’t that the pair were violent to others or anything, it was just that while they didn’t seem to get along they were also fiercely protective of each other; or at Akashi was protective of the other. It was a strange situation.

_‘Mrah?’_

Gabriel looked over to were Gloria was watching him, “What?”

_‘Mrah’_

“Really,” he said as he walked over and kneeled in front of the couch.

 _‘Mrah’_ she said before rubbing her head across Gabriel’s forehead.

“How interesting,” he said. Gently he scooped her up into his arms and reseated himself back on the couch.

_‘Raow’_

Short waddled out from under the stand and climbed up the couch cushions as ungracefully as was possible before falling over onto Gabriel’s thigh. A deafening purr began between the two cats and Gabriel was more than happy to bury his face in Glory’s black fluff.

He sat like that under the pile of singing fur balls until his eyes began to droop and he found himself leaning over the side of the couch. With great effort he stood up before turning to grab Short and head to bed.

Tomorrow promised to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad dad, why are you so sad?
> 
> 2 points if you remember Gloria.


	3. Sep 10 18:30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for character building?
> 
> Jack chapters will be interspersed with Gabe's POV but will rarely follow the main time line. Woo, Flashbacks!
> 
> Italics indicate another language is being spoken.

** September 10, 2069 – 18:30 – U.S. Embassy - Seoul, South Korea **

_‘Something feels off’_

Jack thought as he worked his way down the hall to one of the main cubicle areas. The days in Seoul had been calm since he arrived in his current position; no omnics were trying to shoot him, no superiors screaming in his ear, just calm and dull peace.

“Lee, I need you to call Parker and have him get me those names. Deadline is tomorrow night on those papers.”

“Yessir.”

“Has anyone seen Jong lately? Send her to the archive if you see her, Derick needs help wrapping up the Jones immigration case.”

“Right away, sir.”

Ambassador Morrison sighed as he passed into another grouping of paralegals and secretaries typing away. The clicking of keys sounded eerily similar to the clicking of an empty rifle.

Slowly he scanned the area, looking for the squared figure of his current target. She said she’d be here by now.

“Has anyone seen Officer Kim Song lately?” he said.

A few shaken heads and a chorus of ‘nope’ were all he got. Morrison rolled his eyes as he turned the corner and headed to his office. Half of these people couldn’t find the bathroom if the location wasn’t given to them in the form of a legal paper.

Jack sighed as he dropped down into his squeaky desk chair and glared out the window. He still wondered how he managed to get himself stuck here. While he loved South Korea and its people; he just wasn’t cut out for politics. He was a soldier by nature, always alert and ready for action but lately the most action he’d seen was when the Dutch ambassador threw a coffee mug at him for making an awful pun.

A ruefully smile crossed Jack’s face before a knock at the door stole his attention.

“ _Enter_ ,” he barked as he scrambled to straight the mess of papers littering his desk.

“ _And here I was told you wanted to see me_ ,” came a teasing voice.

Jack relaxed back into his chair as Officer Song ducked through the doorway. She smirked as she crossed the room and sat on the edge of the desk.

“I’m afraid I was infantry, not intelligence,” Jack quipped as he reached up and wrapped his arms around her waist, gently resting his chin on her leg.

“ _A shame_ ,” she replied, running her finger through his hair and laughing when it stayed sticking up. She liked to tease him about looking like Woodstock from Charlie Brown in the mornings.

Jack grumbled as he attempted to smooth it back down only to find Kim’s fingers entangling his own. A faint smile crossed his face as he brought her hands up to kiss.

“ _Suave_ ,” she giggled.

“ _Always_ ,” he mumbled before releasing her hands and standing, “Anyway, I needed you to help me go over the last security report we received.”

A confused look passed over Kim’s face before she snapped into work mode. Warm brown eyes sharped as she strode over to the projector screen on the wall and stood at a parade rest.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“The reports of the intruder we received last month don’t quite match up to the description of the man we caught two weeks ago. Something doesn’t feel right about it, not to mention that the wording on the report is off from Lancaster’s usual reports. Something feels off.”

Concentration creased the space between her eyebrows as she stepped forward and skimmed reports. Her protective and borderline aggressive behavior on any perceived battleground had been legendary among the ranks during the Crisis.

Kim glanced over at him before pointing to a part of the report, “Look at this part, ‘ _The suspect tore through the fence with bolt cutters at the eastern corner of the compound before slipping past security and into the backrooms’._ Isn’t that where we’re patching the fence?”

“One of them, yes.”

“When was the last time you talked to Lancaster?”

“Tuesday, he came in to talk to me about the patches they’ve been putting in the fence. He was asking the company we contracted and what hours they worked. I didn’t think anything of it a first but after reading this I’m not feeling so great about it.”

“You’re right, this doesn’t read like Lancaster’s usual security reports,” Kim said as she stepped closer to the wall and read the report again, “Tell me what is so special about this corner, something is missing.”

Jack stepped back and thought a moment on that, “It’s probably one of the least guarded corners. The camera there has been broken for almost a year but we share that corner with the Indian Embassy so it isn’t usually a problem.”

“What about the guards that patrol the building at night? Haven’t we been putting more people towards the back since the break in a couple years back?”

“Yes, but the guy got in during shift change I guess.”

Officer Song took another few minutes to glare at the wall. Jack handed her the tablet to sift through reports before resting his chin on her shoulder and scanning the documents she brought up. After a moment she tensed.

“Jack, we need to get ou-”

Before she could finish an explosion rocked the building sending them both to the ground. Screaming echoed down the hall as the people scramble out of the inferno consuming their offices.

“Kim. Kimmy. Come on,” Jack groans as he picks himself of the ground while trying to help her up. She stumbles and leans against him as the attempt to make their way out of the building.

“How the fuck did you know?” Jack said as he kicked a door off its hinges to let one of the lawyers out of his office on their way out.

“Picture was of a man with a duffle bag in the building. Report didn’t say anything about a _fucking_ bag being confiscated.”

“So?”

“That duffle bag looks like the one that Jong left at her desk yesterday.”

“ _It was an inside job_ ,” Jack said in disbelief.

Jong was one of the best secretaries they had, Jack would even go so far as to call her a friend. He and Kim had trusted her to take care of Hana on multiple occasions when they had to bring her to work with them.

Kim dropped her head in resignation as they made it to the lobby. A second explosion ripped through the Embassy.

“ _Fuck!”_

 _“Kim!”_ Jack shouted as he tripped over debris and sent them both to the ground. A loud bang shook through the air, disorienting both as the ceiling fell. Searing pain flooded Jack’s senses as he started to push up from the floor. He screamed before falling back down. Fire licked at his pants where a ceiling joist was crushing his legs.

“ _Jackie_ ,” Kim cried, pulling herself towards him. Her face was streaked with ash and her hair was charred but she seemed otherwise intact. She fell to her knees and grabbed his face.

“ _Kim, run.”_

 _“No, I am not leaving you here!”_ she screamed as she got to her feet and attempted to lift the joist. She yelped as the metal seared her hands and stumbled backwards.

“ _Kimmy, look at me!”_ Jack yelled back, his vision blurred, “ _There is nothing you can do for me here. Please. Please get out. Do it for Hana.”_

She looked down on him with tears in her eyes.

“ _I hate you,”_ she spit with no real heat before starting to scramble over the rubble.

Jack watched her struggle until pain and blood loss forced his eyes closed. Smoke burned his eyes and throat. Fire crept towards him, he was going to die.

His mind started to drift when a gunshot and a shriek from another room startled him back to consciousness.

“K-kim?”

“Ambassador Morrison, it is a pleasure to finally meet you,” came a voice from just above him.

Jack weakly turned his head just to see a pair of singed combats boots next to his head, “W-who?”

 “I am called Hitman 43 and I am here to congratulate you on this rare opportunity.”

Jack blinked slowly as the haze returned to his numb mind, “Wha-?”

The hitman laughed above him before crouching down and grabbing Jack by the chin roughly. A cruel smile broke across their face.

“Oh Ambassador,” they crooned, “You have so much to learn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun
> 
> After I wrote the prequel I realized making Lena Jack's daughter would have made more sense but, eh, I really like the idea of Jack speaking Korean. And, yes, Hana is his bio daughter in this, Jack can be bi/pan too.
> 
> Jack chapters will be interspersed with Gabe's POV and rarely follow the timeline of the main story.
> 
> I made a new tumblr that is pretty much just for my stuff so if you want to follow that and just see my stuff instead of sifting through the flaming scrapheap of nonsense that is my main [here ya go.](katrandomwrites.tumblr.com) I will also post some of my doodles so you know what some of my characters look like :D 
> 
> One more thing~ If you have an Overwatch OC I would love to use them as a background character. Send be a brief description here or at the blog above and I will write them in. I already have one volunteer.  
> P.S. if you send them to my blog I might write a little drabble for you just for being such a nice person.


	4. Oct 4 08:30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this chapter is fun.
> 
> tw: There is a semi graphic description of Widowmaker being beaten. I promise you it is not just a senseless killing. Ame has her own part to play.

** October 4, 2076 – 08:30 – Gibraltar Police Department **

The station was buzzing with activity by the time Gabriel stumbled into the lobby with a tray of drinks. It was a tradition for the detective to supply caffeine on Wednesdays during big cases, especially when the case involved a major hitman. Though it did suck that he had to get up extra early to get everything ready.

Satya gave him a nod of acknowledgement without looking up from her computer as he came up to her. Gabriel sat a cup of tea on her counter and walked into the hall once he was awarded the highest honor an anyone could receive from the secretary, a genuine smile.

Satya was one of the best, brightest, and easiest to work with secretaries they had ever had at the precinct despite her outward prickly demeanor. Her arrival cut workloads down drastically because of her no nonsense methods and blacklist of troublesome citizens that just really liked to complain. It would be a trying time once she left to go finish her architect schooling.

Gabriel continued his rounds, stopping by the forensic lab to drop off Fawkes’ bubble tea and nearly going deaf in the process before walking over to Amari’s office. It was a good thing he grabbed an extra coffee because she was busy chatting up the ever boisterous novelist, Reinhardt.

“Surprise surprise,” Gabriel said as he set the final two drinks on the only clear spot of the desk before tossing the tray in the cramped full trash.

Reinhardt gave a hardy laugh before slapping the detective on the back, “Ah! I see my second favorite protagonist is in early today!”

Ana laughed as Gabriel stumbled forward, narrowly avoiding the corner of her desk. He glanced up and glared at her even as he was pulled into a jovial one armed embrace.

“So, Gabriel! What adventures do you have to tell me of today? Ms. Amari here was telling me you are tracking another high-profile hitman, yes? How exciting! I’ve been considering another book to add to my Blackwatch series.”

“I thought you were on a big Overwatch kick?” Gabriel said as he attempted to squirm out of the author’s arms, “And shouldn’t you be working on your Eichenwalde memoirs and Crusader Tales?”

“Crusader Tales is off being illustrated and I am waiting for more correspondence from Balderich. He writes slow and refuses to get internet in his home, it is rather silly don’t you think?” Reinhardt sighed before letting go of Gabriel, “And Ana is as interesting as ever. Sometime I just need a break.”

Ana nodded in agreement, “Sometime we all need a break,” she said, pinning Gabriel with a glare.

Reinhardt glanced between the two with a worried look, “What am I missing here?”

“Gabriel, why don’t you tell him about your new case? I’m sure it would help him out greatly with his next plot as it actually takes after the second book.”

Gabriel shifted uncomfortably as Reinhardt’s eyes widened in realization, “76?”

“Yeah…” Gabriel mumbled, “We have evidence that he’s in town and killing again.”

The phone rang just as Reinhardt tried to say something else. Ana gave them both a dismissive hand motion before picking up the phone.

“I apologize but I must get going,” Reinhardt said.

“I guess I’ll see you later then…” Gabriel said, “Oh! Are you going to the get-together when Fareeha gets back?”

“But of course!” the energy returned to the Crusader’s voice at the mention of Ana’s daughter, “I would not miss it for the world!”

And with that, the pair shared a parting wave and headed off to continue their business. Gabriel shuffled his way over to the elevator and yawned as the door pinged open.

Wasn’t even nine yet and he was ready to go back to bed.

Figures.

Just as he turned to hit the floor button the sound of someone colliding with a wall echoed down the hall. Gabe watched as Angela skidded around the corner with her arms loaded with papers and Winston hot on her heels just as the doors began closing.

“Wait!” she yells before stumbling and forcing Winston to catch her.

Gabriel just stares with his hand on the door as the pair dance around each other trying to pick up the papers she dropped. After the last paper was secured Winston neatly scooped Angela up and trotted to the elevator.

“Was all that really necessary?” Gabriel said as the elevator descended.

Angela, after being placed back on her feet, hopped side to side with her arms still loaded and a wild look in her eyes. Gabriel glanced up at Winston for an explanation.

“We, uh, found the cause of death and the connection between 76 and Widowmaker,” Winston supplied.

The elevator pinged before Gabriel could process the scientist’s words. Angela grabbed his sleeve and wordlessly dragged him to the table where Mrs. Lacroix’s body lie as Winston pulled another table up and helped spread the papers out.

“Where do you want us to start?” Angela asked.

The detective shook his head in disbelief before setting down the tray he was holding and looking over the papers, “Give me a rundown of the injures and the cause of death first.”

Winston shifted the papers to show and extensive catalogue of injures, “Mrs. Lacroix suffered multiple fracture along her legs and spine, the majority of which were caused by her being pulled from the roof. She also appears to have whiplash”

“Pulled?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, Widowmaker carried a grappling hook. We believe that 76 somehow managed to get a hold off it and used it pull her off her perch. Rope burns on her hands and left leg support the theory.”

Angela pulled out photos of the marks as Winston explained.

“She also suffered multiple points of blunt force trauma to the arms, shoulders, and head. Most of the bruising matches the shape of her own sniper rifle suggesting that 76 beat her severely.”

Gabriel took a step back and fell into the rolling chair behind him as Winston spoke. 76 had never displayed aggression in his kills like this. If anything, he could be considered a ‘gentle’ killer if such a thing could exist. What caused him to snap like this?

“Sir, before you zone out on us to scheme, we have more answers,” Angela said, stepping closer to him.

He nodded for Winston to continue.

“Now, as for the cause of death we at first thought it was suffocation due to the massive bruising on her neck. However, once we performed an autopsy we found that she had broken ribs and one had been forced into her lung. We believe she drowned in her own blood.”

“Christ,” Gabriel whispered, “So 76 pulled her off a three-story building, disarmed her, beat her with her own gun, and then strangled her while she drowned in her own blood?”

The scientists exchange looks before nodding slowly.

“We do have evidence that she put up a fight at least,” Angela said, “Tissue was found lodged under her nails. The lab is processing it right now but we believe it will be a match to 76.”

“We also found a connection that might help explain 76’s sudden violence,” Winston added.

“And what is that?”

“76 and Widowmaker, or Jack Morrison and Amelie Lacroix, where both involved with the US Embassy. Morrison was the US Ambassador to South Korea and Amelie was married to the French Ambassador to the US, Gerard Lacroix.”

“And how does that help the investigation?” Gabriel sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face.

“Morrison and Gerard were also in the same unit during the Omnic crisis,” Angela said as she pulled out a photo of UN forces in Korea. Standing front and center were Gerard Lacroix and Jack Morrison in uniform with their arms slung around each other.

Gabriel stared blankly at the photo and the wheels in his head began to turn. The bonds that were forged during the war were strong between those who were stuck in the heart of the conflict. Judging from the stripes and badges both men wore in the picture, they were in a UN specialist group of omnium crackers.

The brutality was becoming clearer to Gabriel. Amelie had killed her husband after she was taken, something in 76 remembered that and he reacted.

“76 is cracking,” Gabriel said suddenly.

“What?” the scientists said in unison as they nearly dropped their papers.

“If Jack and Gerard were war buddies then Jack would have taken it poorly when Gerard was killed by his own wife, right?” Gabriel said as he stood up, “Hitmen don’t show emotion, it’s a weakness. This murder had emotion to it, 76 remembers Gerard and the fact that he had meaning to his life… His murder was not a secret”

“So you’re saying 76 is breaking his conditioning?” came a voice from behind the trio. Gabriel turned to find Ana and Mei walking up to the table of papers.

“It is a plausible reason for his sudden change in method,” Mei said.

“Exactly my point,” Gabriel responded, handing the picture to Ana.

“But why is he ki-“

“Hey, Boss! We got a problem!”

Everyone turned to see Jesse jogging and waving a paper above his head. The look on his face was somewhere between pissed and nervous.

“What’s wrong Jesse?” Gabriel said.

“Ma got some new intel from her contact down south. Evidently Deadlock is making their way up from Santa Fe.”

“Any idea where they are or where they’re headed?” Ana said sharply as she handed the photo back to Gabriel. Jesse motioned for her to follow and the pair disappeared out of sight.

“Well shit,” Gabriel said as Winston and Angela shuffled off to continue their work.

“Jesse’s mother has a gang contact?” Mei asked, thoroughly confused.

Gabriel looked down and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Yeah, it’s complicated… Would you mind accompanying me to my office? Ana will probably be occupied for a while.”

“Uh, sure?” Mei said.

Quickly the pair gathered the piles of papers and headed back upstairs to the detective’s office. Gabriel struggled with his key before finally getting the door open without scattering his papers.

“What did you need me for, sir?” Mei asked as Gabriel sat down at his desk.

“Well, Dr. Zhou-“

“Mei is fine”

“Mei. You looked like you had a few ideas to share before Jesse interrupted.”

Immediately her eyes lit up as she dug out a crumpled notebook, “I have a couple ideas written down, Jamison helped with one of them while he was doing scene reconstruction.”

Gabriel watched as she excitedly flipped through the pages before looking back up at him, “So what are your theories, Mei?”

“The first one was that Soldier:76 is hunting down rogue hitmen. Up until this month’s killings I thought this was the most plausible but now I’m re-thinking that.”

“Because Widowmaker isn’t registered as a Society hitman, right?” Gabriel said, leaning back into his chair with his own notebook in hand.

“Right, but it is would still be possible in the case that the Society and Talon have allied and 76 is working for both.”

Gabriel considers it a moment before shaking his head, “But if he was the one doing the hunting why are they grouping in one town? What would be drawing them to Wyoming? It’s not like this town is full of affluent people like NYC or LA.”

Mei smiles at him, “That’s where our next idea comes in. 76 himself has gone rouge and is hiding out because of the town’s low profile and remote location.”

“That would explain a lot…”

“It would explain the concentration of recent murders, why he was in a grocery store, why his methods are shifting-“

“But do you know why the locations and methods varied so widely on the first victims? The first two were killed on completely opposite sides of the town and with different methods.”

Mei thought on that for a moment before a loud knock interrupted. A head of pink hair popped around the door and Mei turned bright red when she saw their visitor.

“Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if I could be borrowing Dr. Zhou for a few minutes,” Officer Zaryanova said as she stepped into the room, her massive frame dwarfing everything in the room.

“Is it important?” Gabriel started to say before Mei bolted to the door and started nodding vigorously. He watched in mild amusement as Zarya blushed lightly and lead the scientist out of the room, “I guess we’ll finish this later.”

After the door closed he sighed and picked through the papers he’d dropped onto his desk before pulling out the photo of Jack and Gerard’s team. Carefully, he grabbed the framed picture of his own team with himself, Ana, and her husband scrunched together in the foreground.

The sounds of helicopters flood his mind.

_‘Captain Amari is down! I repeat, Captain Amari is down!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feel when more ships are introduced but they aren't the ones you're waiting for. Also what is with all the interruptions, people need to learn


	5. Oct 4 19:30

** October 4, 2076 – 19:30 – Watchpoint Apartments **

Gabriel swore as he dug through his couch cushions looking for the cellphone which was currently screaming for his attention. Short glowered from his perch on the back of the armchair, he was very displeased with being removed from Gabriel’s lap.

“Reyes,” Gabe managed after finally managing to recover his phone.

“Hey Gabe, it’s Jesse,”

Confusion flickered across Gabriel’s face as he repositioned himself on the couch and patted his lap. Short ignored him but Gloria came trotting up to claim the position.

“Hey Jess, what’s going on?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you that the FBI wants me out in D.C. in about two weeks. Figured you’d like the warning that you’ll need to find a new partner to pick on soon.”

Gabriel smiled, “That’s great! How’s your mom taking that?”

“Well, uh, I haven’t told her yet, you’re the first one to know,” Jesse chuckled nervously.

“Jesse.”

“Look, Gabe, I’m just worried how she’s going to take it. You know how she gets about law enforcement, especially the FBI.”

“Have you at least told her you got in?”

“I…”

Gabriel sighed and rubbed the side of his face, “Jesse you need to talk to her. She’s your mom, I doubt she’s going to throw you out just because you’re moving up in the world.”

“I- I just don’t want her to be afraid of me,” Jesse finally whispered.

Gabriel’s heart dropped at those words. He knew that Jesse sacrificed a lot when he became an officer but to think he was thinking that his own mother would be afraid of him turning her in…

“Jesse,” he started, “If your mom can beat the shit out of five rival gang members twice her size with just an iron skillet, I highly doubt she’s going to be afraid of her incredibly capable, loving, and loyal adoptive son going into the FBI.”

Jesse chuckled at that.

“And unless you’re going to tell the government about the best places to buy meat in the desert, I don’t think you’ll really be telling them anything they don’t already know.”

“You’re right. Thanks Gabe.”

“Tell me how it goes, ok? If you don’t show up to work tomorrow I’ll know.”

Jesse laughed again, “I’ll send you a text that I’m alive, alright? Talk to you later…hopefully.”

And with that he hung up and left Gabe in the silence of his apartment. The sound of Arashi ripping out of the parking lot across the street was the only thing to disturb the peace.

Carefully, Gabriel slid himself out from under Gloria and headed into the kitchen where he grabbed a beer and a pack of cigarettes off the counter. Unable to stand the silence that permeates every inch of his apartment, he steps out to the terrace and falls into the chair he dragged out there ages ago.

The town provides the noise he needs as he pops the top on the bottle in his hands. He blissfully falls into the monotone noise and environment around him.

It’s times like this that he misses the chaos his daughter used to cause with the cats. She used to go flying through the house with the feather chaser and Short hot on her heels. Gabriel would forgive a hundred broken glasses just to hear her laughter again.

Gabriel lets out a smoky sigh and sinks further into his chair. Old grief and anger threaten to surface again.

“Long day?” came a gruff voice from the neighboring terrace.

Gabriel tensed before reorienting himself, “You could say that,” he replied, not even bothering to glance over at the source.

The warm chuckle he received sent shivers down his spine and was enough to turn his head towards the voice. What he saw looked more like a miniature garden than a shitty apartment terrace. How long had it been since he was out here?

“Nice garden, planning on feeding the entire complex?” Gabriel quipped, earning another laugh.

A pair of broad shoulder and greying blonde hair became visible as the man stood up and moved along the planters, not bothering to face Gabriel, “Well, my ma made me learn how to grow herbs in planters before she ever let me go to college. Guess it’s just a habit now.”

Gabriel snorted, “I hear that. My dad is a five-star chef and he made damn sure that I knew how to cook for myself before I could even be home alone. He didn’t want me to end up like my mom.”

“Oh god, my grandma and mom both taught me to bake when I was little. My dad wasn’t entirely hopeless but grandma always told me that he was her greatest failure.”

Gabriel turned more to face the man and watched with interest as the muscles in his back worked over the plants. There was something familiarly alluring about him.

“Where are you from?” Gabriel asked after a few more rounds of trying to one up each other on family skills.

“Everywhere, I haven’t really stayed in any one place for a long time. I was born and raised in Indiana though, if that’s what you’re asking,” the man said before turning. His glasses sat skewed across a scarred face and his smile was lopsided, “How about you?”

A moment passed as Gabriel stared into the face of his would-be killer and the prime suspect in his current investigation. Cold fear shot down his back, replacing the warm familiarity, and he carefully stood up and bolted back into his apartment.

“Shit. Shit. Shitting fuck!” he growled as he yanked his jacket off the back of the armchair to search the pockets for his pistol.

Gloria and Short went skidding down the hall as he loaded the gun and went to grab his phone. Where was it? A sinking feeling came upon him as he peeked out the door and saw 76 standing with his phone in hand. The hitman tapped at the glass and made a confused gesture.

He aimed his gun at the glass, 76’s eye’s widened and he vaulted back over onto his own terrace once more. Gabriel listened to the footsteps cross the apartment before abruptly stopping. He waited.

A few minutes passed before scratching on his own door took the detective’s attention from the wall. Cautiously, Gabriel made sure the chain was hooked and cracked the door open. Nothing was there. He stepped back and opened the door as far as the chain allowed but he still didn’t see anything.

“Wha-“

‘Boof’

Gabriel spun around with his gun raised only to be met the soft brown eyes of a golden retriever. He watched in disbelief as the dog wagged her tail and laid down by his feet. Slowly he crouched down and gave the dog a tentative pat before spinning her collar around to reveal the name ‘Lucy’.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Gabriel whispered as he let go and slid down the wall to join Lucy on the floor.

Time passed at an unbearably slow paced, Gabriel strained to hear the footsteps next door start again but nothing came. At some point is hand wandered to the scruff of Lucy’s neck where he began to absentmindedly scratch as they waited.

After what felt like hours the footsteps started again. Gabriel jumped to his feet as the door to the neighboring apartment opened and closed. He braced his back against the door frame as the footsteps stopped in front of his door.

“Can I have my dog back?”

Gabriel blinked and looked down where Lucy was still laying, her ears stood up but she made no move to stand, “Uh, no?”

The door rattled as 76 tried to open it, “I’m not leaving until I get my dog, Reyes.”

Fear numbed his legs as 76’s pleasant tone from earlier lost all inflection and emotion. Ill thought out bravery tore the words from him mouth before he could stop them, “Why? So when I open the door you can shoot me again? No thank-you, jackass. Lucy is my dog now!”

A startled bark of laughter caused Gabriel to jump and tighten his grip on the gun.

“Dude, just crack the door open, let her out, and I’ll leave. Jesus Christ,” 76 snorted, the life returning to his voice.

Carefully, Gabriel cracked the door open and glanced out to see 76 standing in the hall. His hands were empty but it didn’t mean he was unarmed nor that he couldn’t just over power the detective.

Reports of hitman taking out small SWAT teams without any form of firearms were rare but not unheard of, in fact one of the handful of reports were from Soldier:76 himself.

“Don’t try any shit,” Gabriel growled before opening the door on the chain and looking back at Lucy. The dog glanced up at him and yawned before rolling onto her side, “I think your dog is broken…”

“Lucy, come.” 76 said, peeking through the crack in the door.

Lucy sneezed.

“What a well-trained dog you have here 76.”

The hitman glared at Gabriel before trying a whistle command, “You know I could just grab her…”

“Nope,” Gabriel yelped before slamming the door closed, “My dog now, I guess.”

“Reyes-“

“Nope.”

The silence from the other side of the door was deafening to Gabriel. He shifted his weight back and forth waiting for the hitman to make a move, a noise, anything.

Finally a sigh and a thump came from the door, “Fine. I’ll leave if you get her out.”

 “Only if you go back to your apartment,” Gabriel relented, “and I want my phone back too.”

Something hit the floor before his phone slide under the door and between his feet. He listened as uneven footstep made their way down the hall. Gabriel waited a moment before cracking his door open and peeking out into the empty hall before holstering his weapon.

Taking a shaky breath, he walked to where Lucy was still lying and gently started to half-drag her to the doorway. Gabriel stumbled over her as he got to the door and listened for any activity before unlatching the chain.

Gabriel had no time to process as the door slammed into him and sent him to the floor. Fear froze him where he fell when the barrel of a large gun came into his vision. His life flashed before his eyes and he said his prayers-

‘ _Thwack’_

He looked to up in disbelief as a foam dart bounced off his forehead and onto his chest. 76 laughed and lower himself over Gabriel so they were face to face, a nerf gun was grasped lightly in one hand.

“Wha-what the fuck?” Gabriel managed.

76 cocked his head to the side and confusion crossed his face once more, “What? I already got to kill you once. I mean, you’re still on my hitlist but I also don’t give a fuck right now.”

Gabriel gaped at the hitman as he stood and whistled a different command, Lucy immediately got up and trotted out of the room.

“You planned this.”

76 smiled, “Actually I didn’t, but it was fortunate you dropped your phone. Well, fortunate for me anyway.”

A feeling of dread deepened in Gabriel.

“It saved me a lot of time of trying to track down all your friends and family.” 76 began to walk out the door as he spoke before turning in the doorway, “Good news for you though, as long as you keep your mouth shut we should have no problems, right, Gabi?”

With that the door shut leaving Gabriel alone in the quiet of his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby Jesse ;o; he just wants to be loved.
> 
> I bet you weren't expecting them to meet already. Gabriel is shook. Also (not so) mystery daughter???
> 
> This is the second to last chapter I have drafted so let's hope my update schedule holds out. It also depends on if I can get my college anxiety under control. Woo.


	6. Oct 4 21:15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here comes another Jack chapter.
> 
> italics mean another language is being spoken

** October 4, 2076 – 21:15 – Watchpoint Apartments **

Once Jack made it back to his apartment he immediately collapsed on the couch. His glasses clicked as they lost contact with the connection plates behind his ears. Jack sighed and pulled them off, welcoming the darkness as he buried his face into the couch cushion.

“Luuuucyyyy,” he whined as she jumped up and laid on his back. The pressure grounded him as he tucked his arms under his chest and turned his head to glare at nothing.

Minutes turned into hours and soon Hanzo returned. The other hitman spared him a glance before sighing and flipping the TV onto whatever the hell they’d been watching earlier.

“Rough night?”

“Mmph.”

Jack listened as Hanzo hummed and put away the content of his grocery bags before walking back into the living room. The back of the couch creaked as Hanzo looked at the pathetic lump of hitman currently being squished by a fearsome dog.

“How bad?”

The volume on the TV went up in response.

~’ _You who I called brother, why must you call down another blow?’~_

“Ah,” Hanzo said before turning the TV back down, “What happened? Did you have to put down another hitman?”

Jack sighed and started to move. Lucy hopped off as he retrieved his glasses, “No.”

The glasses clicked back into place and began to run the reconnection sequence, red filled his vision before fading into a rose-tinted image of the room. Hanzo looked at him with concern before hopping over the back of the couch to sit down.

“Do I need to call Dr. Wantori?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You are a horrible liar, Jack Morrison.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the way Hanzo hit every syllable of his name. Hanzo never had to go through having his complete identity torn away from him but the parts he was missing hurt him greatly.

"Yeah… Kim always used to tell me that,” Jack mumbled before hunching over and grabbing his laptop off the coffee table.

“A smart woman,” Hanzo said, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder and pushing himself off the couch.

“She really was.”

With that Hanzo shuffled off to his room leaving Jack on the couch. Jack looked down at the screen in his lap before digging his phone out of his pocket. In the time Gabriel had barricaded himself into his apartment, Jack downloaded the entire contents of his phone. It really was fortunate he dropped it.

It took a few minutes to scroll through the detective’s contacts, but Jack did find what he was looking for.

‘Rita McCree’

Quickly he typed the number into his phone before hitting the call button. The phone rang twice before a gruff voice answered.

“McCree.”

“Hello, Cardinal.”

There was a pause before the voice snarled, “Who the fuck is this?”

“This is Soldier:76, I’m contacting you in regards to Detective Gabriel Reyes.”

“I swear to god if you-“

“I’m not interested in hurting the detective, all my contracts are on hold until further notice.”

There was a confused pause, “Then why are you calling me?”

“I was just wondering if you were aware of the conditions he has been living under.”

“That little- please tell me he has at least been cooking for himself.” Rita said, exasperated.

“Well I can’t exactly lie, now can I? The delivery guys are being paid well at least.”

A loud crash and a yelp come from the other side of the phone. Jack held the phone away from his ear as Rita began slamming what sounded like cookware around on granite counters. A male voice began pleading with her to tell him what was wrong before being thoroughly chewed out for not checking up on ‘Gabi’.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you about the state of his house, should I?”

The phone abruptly cut out as it was slammed onto the receiver, good old landlines.

Jack laughed to himself before heading off to bed.

-

The next morning the entire floor was treated to the sound of Rita McCree storming into the Reyes apartment. Jack was out on the terrace picking parsley when the commotion started.

Listened as things were thrown against walls accompanied by a slurry of Spanish, English, and what he assumed was Tewa, being shouted between three people. Hanzo wandered out to try to peek through the door.

“What did you do?” he accused even as he perched on the edge of the railing to watch the spectacle.

“I met the neighbor yesterday. He left his phone on the balcony so I picked it up for him.”

“And called a hit on him?” Hanzo asked as the door flew open and a rug was thrown out.

“Something like that,” Jack mused, moving to lean on the rail next to his partner, “You remember the job in Santa Fe?”

“You mean the hits on Deadlock and the Songbirds?”

“Yup, turns out one of our old friends moved here with that Deadlock stray she adopted.”

“How quaint, but what does that have to do with them tearing apart the apartment next door?”

“Gabriel is a family friend.”

Hanzo laughed at that just as a tall figure stepped out onto holding a nearly dead ivy plant. The man’s hair was tied back in a short ponytail with a scruffy looking beard that was most likely hiding a baby face. Hanzo glanced over at him and froze, his face going red.

“Mornin’,” the man said before sauntering back into the house.

“He was cute,” Jack muttered, earning a hard punch in the shoulder from his partner.

“Shut up!”

Once again the man walked back out with another plant. He sat it down and the bent over to pick up the rug. Hanzo began hyperventilating and holding onto Jack’s shoulder for dear life.

“You going to be ok?” Jack asked, Hanzo barely managed to shake his head, “Excuse me can I get your name.” Jack called over.

“Jesse McCree,” he said turning to face the pair, “Sorry about the ruckus.”

“It’s no problem-“

“ _I’m going to bury myself in those pecs_ ,” Hanzo whispered.

“Pardon?” Jesse asked, confusion tinting his tone.

Hanzo turned another shade redder before launching himself off the railing and back into their apartment. Jack barely managed to stop himself from guffawing as Jesse slowly walked back into Gabriel’s apartment.

 He waited a while longer until the man himself came stumbling out under the unending stream of lectures from inside. Gabriel shouted something back before stomping childishly and turning to glare at Jack. The hitman waved.

“What the actual fuck?” Gabriel growled just before a barrage of blankets came flying from the apartment.

Jack gave him a smug grin and shrugged in false innocence, “Can’t a guy call another guy’s mom when he needs some help?”

“First off, jackass, she’s not my mom and secondly, go fuck yourself,” he growled before stalking back into the fray.

The hitman just laughed to himself as an old emptiness opened back up in his chest. He absentmindedly rubbed at it as yet another person stepped out of the neighboring apartment.

She was stocky with wild black hair and weathered skin speaking for her days of hard labor under the sun. She leveled him with a hard glare that would have made most people squirm.

“Ms. McCree,” Jack said, giving her a respectful nod, “Good to see you again and in good health.”

She gave him a crooked smile that showed a few too many broken teeth before sauntering to the railing and leaning a hip against it, “Well, Mr. Morrison, I never thought I’d see the day would be out of that god-awful leather jacket of yours. Where’s the wolf?”

“He’s inside having a personal crisis right now, probably regretting not drinking anymore.”

“Well after that performance he put on at the Tipsy Tumbleweed, I can’t blame him.”

Jack snorted, “Oh, if you liked that you would’ve enjoy the assassination we did in New York. He was mortified when he saw the security footage.”

“You’ll have to share that sometime, I assume you still have the recording?”

“Sadly, no,” Jack shifted uncomfortably, “That was shortly after they implemented a new drug on us. I wasn’t all there for a while.”

Rita gave him a serious nod, “Damn… So, what’s your situation now,” she walked over and slid the door closed before coming back, “Jesse said something about you killing other hitmen around town. You break out?”

“Yeah, we got out. I can’t share too many details about it but we’re getting better. Found some people who could put us back together.”

Rita ran her fingers over the metal seams of her right hand, “Your legs?”

“Took them off and gave me real prosthetics instead of those invasive braces. Same with my eyes… It’s been quite the recovery process.”

“Sounds like it.”

Jack nodded and glanced around his terrace before asking, “So what’s going on with Reyes? Last time I ‘met’ him he was a proud officer with a reputation in our community for being ruthless and strategic.”

Rita sighed, “He lost his daughter a couple years ago. She’d been tangled up in the Los Muertos when they lived in LA and they didn’t take to kindly to her leaving. They followed her, lured her into a warehouse with false information that was highly encrypted to look real, and then blew it all up. Her body was never found.”

Jack winced as images of his own daughter came up, “What about his wife or..?”

“Gabriel’s husband died of cancer shortly after they adopted. Life has not been kind to him and it’s finally taking its toll. I’m glad you called.”

Again, Jack found himself nodding in understanding.

“Well I better get a move on before those two idiots break something. Make your way down to the restaurant sometime, hell just stop by the house, you’ve got my number. I need to compare a few recipes with you anyway.”

“Sounds like a plan, Cardinal.”

Rita cackled as she swept back into the house. Jack followed suit and walked in to see Hanzo pouting in the corner with a bottle of sparkling grape juice in hand. He just shook his head before entering his room and falling face first onto his bed.

At least he’d found an old friend here.

\--

_ July 4, 2071 _

_The last thing 76 expected was to be sitting shotgun in a rickety old truck blazing through the reservation just north of Santa Fe with a bullet in his side. He glanced over at the young girl driving, her black hair whipped around her face._

_“Where are we going?” he demanded for the fifth time._

_“Shut your mouth and face forward.” The girl snapped, throwing him an icy glare._

_76 gritted his teeth and did as he was told. At least this was better than bleeding out in an alley. He should have seen that body guard coming though._

_Assassinating the corrupt governor of New Mexico while she was in Santa Fe had sounded much easier than it was. Whoever had hired him was way too vague with their details. All he really got out of his employer was that the governor was trying to steal more native land and the protests weren’t working._

_The truck stopped abruptly and the girl jumped out, “Stay or your getting shot again.”_

_76 gave her a look from behind his visor even as she ran up the front and slammed the screen door open. She shouted something in what he assumed was Tewa before an older woman stepped out with an entourage of other rough looking women brandishing hunting rifles._

_“Your reputation proceeds you, Soldier,” the older woman announced, her voice ringing in the evening air._

_76 remained silent as the woman approached him, shifting uncomfortably and she stepped up onto the rusted step of the truck. Her eyes pierced his visor as she gave him a smile that showed too many broken teeth._

_“They call me the Cardinal and you’re very lucky I stopped by to visit my girls.”_

_ April 22, 2072 _

_Shrapnel flew through the air as Deadlock open fired on the Songbirds and 76. Cardinal rolled behind his crate just as a flashbang skittered towards them._

_“Having fun yet, Jackrabbit,” she cackled before returning fire._

_“Always,” he grunted and then vaulted over their cover to release a round of helix missiles._

_ August 18, 2074 _

_“Been a while, Jackass. Where have you been?”_

_“Around,” Jack answered before collapsing onto the couch between two of the other girls and snapping off his mask, having long since become comfortable with showing them his scars._

_“They’re actually letting their pet out for free time,” Laura said, leaning against him._

_“No, I just have a hit to take care of the next state over and heard Rita was back visiting again. Managed to talk my handler into booking a different flight.”_

_Jody snorted in disgust before Rita hushed her, a warm smile crossing her face._

_ February 14, 2075 _

_“EAT SHIT!” 146 yelled as he kicked at the man he was currently arguing with._

_76 and Rita watched in mild amusement from their booth as the heavily inebriated yakuza stumbled and landed face first into the bar, spilling several drinks on his way down._

_“Quite the partner you got there, Jackrabbit.” Rita chuckled as 146 jumped up and was promptly tackled by at least five other bar patrons._

_76 just sighed and placed his head in his hands._

_"Yeah... he's a keeper."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Rita is Native American. To clarify, she visits New Mexico a lot despite not being the current leader of the Songbirds for reasons I can't tell you yet. She and Jack share a mutual respect for one another and are good buddies but Jesse doesn't know. Both of her hands are prosthetic, she lost them after being caught stealing, she likes to tell people she got them amputated so she doesn't have to use ovenmits.
> 
> Jack has some intense injuries; Both eyes are completely useless, his legs are amputated below the knee but at different heights, and he has different implants to help regulate chemical levels in his body because so many of his organs are damaged. 
> 
> Hanzo has a fear of forgetting things which is part of the reason he's been trying to address his drinking problem. His favorite pass times include getting Jack to tell stories and street racing.  
> \--  
> I messed up my left ring finger and it is very difficult to type with two fingers tapped together so forgive me if the next update is late (I also haven't even started it :P).
> 
> Next up: The real plot!


	7. Oct 21 17:30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't get this done in time~

** October 21, 2076 – 17:30 – Amari Residence **

The October air was chilly even this far into the day. Gabriel was already loathing the day he had to start scrapping frost off his windshield. He turned the heater up as he turned the corner into Ana’s neighborhood and smiled when he saw Fareeha’s car in the driveway.

The girl in question sat on the steps looking down at her phone before looking up at the sound of Gabriel’s car. He could hear her squeal as she ran towards him. Gabe barely had time to get out of his care before he was tackled by his goddaughter and pulled into a rib crushing hug.

“How’s my little pharaoh doing?” Gabriel asked as she grabbed his wrist and began dragging him to the house. He had to stop her so he could go back and grab the dish and package he’d brought from the backseat.

“Great! I have so much to tell you guys. Reinhardt is already here and Jesse said he’d stop by tomorrow. I’m gone two months and that man manages to get himself shipped off to the coast, typical,” Fareeha rambled as they walked up the drive.

The Amari residence was truly something to behold. The house itself wasn’t much, just a common yellow-sided prefabricated house that had been put down during the last housing boom. All the neighboring houses were of the same type with detached garages connected to alleyways. It was the yard that truly set it apart.

A massive willow tree stood proudly in the front yard surrounded by bushes that were full of color in summer. Hostas edged the house broken only by the paved areas for planters that had been taken in for the season and the trellis of morning glories. The war on the invading woodbine last year was starting to disappear as the plants filled in their bald spots.

Around back sat the Amari’s pride and joy, the gardens. On both sides of the backyard patio were midsized plots that had yielded an amazing amount of produce. Gabriel had been recruited to help cook and can over the summer and could tell he would be needed again soon by how big the pie pumpkins in the corner were when he was last there.

Gabriel sighed as they stepped into the entry of the home. He almost didn’t want to kick his shoes off and get his toes cold but he knew that would result in Ana shooting him passive aggressive looks over the table all evening. The shoes came off slowly even as Fareeha danced around in her socks waiting for him to carefully place them next to the enormous boots that could only belong to Reinhardt.

The inside of the house was just a beautiful as the outside. When the pair stepped in they were met with the warm smell of tea and something vaguely sweet and rosey. Often times the house has an acrid undertone from Ana’s constant kitchen experiments with various organic chemicals she makes from her garden.

“Mom, Uncle Gabe is here!” Fareeha shouted as she continued to drag the man into the kitchen. Reinhardt gave him a sympathetic wave from the table.

Ana turned from the stove, “Took you long enough.”

“At least he showed up unlike Jesse,” Fareeha huffed as she wrapped her arms around one of Gabriel’s own.

“Well at least your mother can cook in peace. Which reminds me,” Gabe said as he slowly made his way to the counter with his new arm band sliding across the linoleum floor in her striped socks, “I have a present for you.”

It was always amazing to see such a serious child practically squeal in delight as he handed her the package from earlier and then proceeded to scoop her up like a twelve-year-old. It was still hard for him to believe that she was eighteen and in college.

“Ah ha! Quite the catch you have there, Gabriel!” Reinhardt said, roaring with laughter at the sight.

“There is a matching one in the kitchen if you want,” Gabe teased, he barely managed to dodge the spoon that came flying from the doorway.

“Okay, okay, put me down,” Fareeha managed through her own giggles.

Gabriel obliged but was very slow about it until he was gently smacked on the side of the head. Dramatically he clutched his ear and whined in false agony.

“Drama queen,” Fareeha accused.

 “Guilty as charged,” Gabriel said with a grin before settling into one of the chairs, “So are you going to open it or just hold it? Maybe use as a medicine ball?”

She looked at him with a twitchy straight face before flinging a placemat in his face. Reinhardt cackled with laughter again as she took to the opportunity to tear into the package while Gabriel was blinded.

“I love it,” she whispered.

“What?” Gabriel said leaning closer.

“I love it!” Fareeha shrieked before launching herself at him.

“What is it?” Ana asked from the doorway.

Proudly, Fareeha held up the blue and yellow patterned sweater. It was a perfect copy of the sweater her father had bought for her as a child, just sized up to fit her much bigger frame.

“I found an old picture a while back and remembered how much you used to love that thing,” Gabriel said, “I thought it might help you feel less homesick at school too.”

Ana smiled as Fareeha took off her sweatshirt and put the sweater on over her tank top, “Wow, you even got the shoulder width right. Maybe I should just have you make her clothes instead of trying to find them at the store.”

“Maybe I could get some nice pants with pockets,” Fareeha grumbled even as she curled into a comfy sweater ball on her chair.

“Oof, now your asking way too much,” Gabriel said, “I could sew on two more buttons but pockets? Too hard. I’ll just make you a massive wallet and purse, how about that?”

Ana snorted in amusement before shooting a glare at her own bulky bag hanging on the door and sliding back into the kitchen. Reinhardt looked at the pair in mild confusion.

“So, Rein,” Gabriel said, “When is Fareeha getting her own book series?”

Fareeha lit up when she noticed the thoughtful look Reinhardt’s face, “Wait seriously?”

“Well I suppose her character could get a spinoff of the Overwatch series. She holds enough importance in that series to warrant a book or two. I’d need some time to fill out the character and I would want to make sure Pharah is true to our Fareeha.”

“So, a couple years after college?” Gabriel asked.

“Sounds about right. It will give me time to start building her world and character before I try to find a plot befitting such a noble engineer.”

Fareeha squealed in delight, “I have a friend at school that should totally be a character. Her name is Efi and she’s only eleven but she’s super smart, honestly I think she needs her own comic book.”

Gabriel leaned back in his chair as Fareeha began telling Reinhardt all about this girl she’d befriended and how she’d managed to get in contact with some gamer she and Rein were fans of. A glance over to the kitchen confirmed that Ana had moved closer to the doorway to listen in to her daughter’s lively conversation.

“So, are you working on any other books right now?” Fareeha asked.

“Yes, currently I am waiting on correspondence from Balderich and for the illustrations to be done for Crusader Tales. I’m also being torn between starting a sequel to Blackwatch and continuing the third Overwatch book. It would not be so hard if Gabriel wasn’t so interesting right now,” Reinhardt lamented as if having too much time and inspiration was such a travesty.

The younger Amari cocked her head at him before giving Gabriel an accusing glare, “You’re never interesting when I’m around.”

A sudden cackle from the kitchen startled everyone at the table. A fist pounding on the counter could be heard between each snort and wheeze. Gabriel raised a middle finger before turning back to the table.

“Well it seems your mother never thinks I’m interesting,” he grumbled earning another loud snort from the next room, “But yes, something has come up at work.”

Fareeha glowered at him and waited for more information. When she didn’t get what she wanted, she waved her arms around and said, “Well? Do I get anything other than that? For all I know you could have just dropped a coffee pot in the breakroom considering how little action you guys have seen!”

Gabriel winced when Reinhardt cleared his throat, “Well... over the past couple months hitmen have been popping up around the town, er, dead.”

She gapped at Reinhardt before turning to Gabriel and smacking him in the arm, “Rude! Something exciting actually happens in this godforsaken town and you don’t think to tell me?”

He rubbed his arm before saying, “Well, I figured your mom would have said something to you and ow. What are they feeding you in the mountains? Protein powder and rebar?”

“Don’t change the subject, detective,” Fareeha said, “I need to hear some details, now.”

“When did you become my boss,” Gabe sulked. Why were women being so mean to him lately? First Rita ransacked his house and now Fareeha practically had him at gunpoint with her grumpy face. Maybe he was just a super weiny.

“Fine,” he relented after a few moments of awkward silence, “We’ve had a weird string of murders around town. At first the methods and drops were sporadic but this month they’ve been piled in the same place with similar MOs. The last victim was a French woman under the Talon division of hitmen. We’ve since closed the case and sent her body home to be buried.”

“Do you know who’s been killing them?” Fareeha asked, her face was serious but by the way she was practically bouncing in her seat Gabriel could tell she was very excited.

He stalled for a moment before sighing, “We’re still unsure about the first victims but the last three we believe to have been taken out by Soldier:76. We found connections between both him and the last woman predating their conditions.”

“Do you think HAI is in on it,” she asked.

“What?”

“The HAI Corporation built a new medical facility just outside town. There have been rumors of their involvement in hitmen activities for years now, right? So, I’m thinking they’re making new hitmen and training them in town,” Fareeha said before scrambling to the decorative table in the corner and pulling out a notebook. Reinhardt watched in awe as she started outlining her ideas.

“Even if you’re wrong this is an fascinating book idea,” Reinhardt mumbled as she worked.

Gabriel sighed, “No, they aren’t making new hitmen, all the ones we’ve found were already in the system and at least a year old. Besides no claims of HAI having any involvement in hitmen have been proven.”

“Gabi,” she started, “They experiment in making minds. They couldn’t look anymore guilty then that and besides, everyone knows that the CEO and chief programmer are omnics.”

He rolled his eyes, “Solomon and Stef Wantori are not omnics. Unless they suddenly figured out how to make omnics look perfectly human, there is no way. Just because they act a little stiff does not equal robot.”

“Somebody hasn’t read the Transformers comics,” she mumbled.

“Food,” Ana shouted as she brought a steaming dish to the table.

They wasted no time distributing the plates that had been sitting in Ana’s spot and shoveling the koshary onto their plates. A round of ‘thank you’ and ‘my complements to the chef’ was given before they started.

“You know, Gabriel,” Ana said after a moment of not so quiet eating, “Maybe you should start cooking again too. I do miss your father’s tamale recipe.”

“I brought you homemade tortilla chips, what more do you want?” Gabriel grumbled around a mouthful of food.

Fareeha’s eyes lit up, “Is that what was in the other container? Yes!”

“Perhaps you can just get him to make this year’s Halloween costumes,” Reinhardt mused.

“Only if we have a haunted house again this year,” Gabriel said, “And you have to get Jamie and Torb to rig the special effects. I will not start costumes this late in the month unless we have a stage to match.”

Ana laughed, “You know we can never live up to that without Olivia programming everything together. She was the only one that could ever live up to your dramatic expectations.”

Gabriel chuckled lightly, “Yeah, I guess you got me there. Maybe if somebody does well in school she can help,” he said glancing over at Fareeha.

“I’m an engineer not a programmer but I’ll take your challenge. It’ll look good in my portfolio if nothing else. I already have people interested though so it’ll just be bragging rights.”

The entire table looked at her shocked. She grinned and said, “Oh yeah I’ve had recruiters from Vishkar, Volskaya, and Petras motors come talk to me. I’ve been offered a full ride from Petras and Volskaya.”

“And why was I not informed of this?” Ana asked, pointing a fork at her daughter, “I feel like this should have been something I was told.”

“Well I haven’t accepted anything yet. I want to go a little further before I decide what I real want to do. So far Petras is winning because they have aerospace development contracts with several countries but Volskaya is offering room to grow.”

“And what about Vishkar?” Gabriel asked, “Satya is going to be working with them soon, you’d know somebody there.”

“I don’t agree with their ethics. Something about the recent development in Brazil just feels wrong. If they are so great then why are so many people speaking out against them?”

“A good point,” Reinhardt agreed, “One must always think over their options and what they want to be associated with.”

“But with the recent Volskaya scandal, why are you still considering them?” Gabe asked, “And aren’t they partnering with HAI soon.”

“I just said I’m still thinking, jeez,” Fareeha groaned, “And besides I have my eyes on another place.”

“Where?” Ana asked her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“It’s a secret,” Fareeha teased before diving back into what was left on her plate.

The rest of the meal went smoothly, though Ana continued to throw suspicious glances and a very smug Fareeha. They considered playing a few rounds of cards but a phone call from Reinhardt’s illustrator broke them up. Hugs where exchanged and soon Gabriel and Reinhardt were out the door and in the darkness.

“I will see you later,” Reinhardt said before stepping up into his vehicle, “Don’t be a stranger, come visit sometime.”

“We’ll see,” Gabriel said before getting into his own car and heading back to his empty apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably the easiest chapter to write so far. I have never written this many words so easily. Lets hope this keeps up.
> 
> Yeah Fareeha! I have never written her before so she might be a little wonky. I wonder what that mystery place is... Also Reinhardt is who I aspire to be in life, I love him. 
> 
> Ana is a little of a mad scientist in the kitchen and the garden, Gabriel often questions her but typically everything turns out ok. One time she accidentally crossbred garlic and green onion, that was weird.
> 
> Gabriel can be happy too *smacks counter*


	8. Oct 23 10:45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boi, here we go. Who's ready for some plot? (not me)

** October 23, 2076 – 10:45 – LumériCo Corporate Office – Dorado, Mexico  **

Security Chief María Jiménez marched through the halls as she made her way down to the cafeteria. The caterers had reported that the kitchen looked as though someone come in and trashed it over the weekend while everyone was out. Leave it to some sleaze ball to ruin a perfectly good Monday.

Jiménez adjusted the clipboard under her arm before pushing the doors open to the dining area. She glanced around and noticed how the tables had been pushed out towards the walls in odd directions. They hadn’t been that way on Friday.

“ _Pedro!”_ she called, a scruffy man in a white apron stepped out of the kitchen area, “ _I have some paperwork for you,”_ she teased, waving the papers around in front of her.

She chuckled as he grumbled and snatched the papers from her before saying, “ _I’m gone for two days and I come back to this crap. I swear when I get my hands on them…”_

“ _Your luck has always been terrible. Now where exactly is the mess?_ ” she asked before pushing through the next set of doors and stopping cold in her tracks, “ _Oh…”_

 _“Yeah, whoever got in here had a great time trashing the place. This is worse than the last time we hosted the Christmas party,”_ Pedro said as he walked ahead of her and stepped over chunks of broken bowls to set the clipboard on the only surface not covered in flour.

Jiménez slowly walked around the area before remembering to start taking pictures for the damages report. She pulled the camera from her pocket and started working her way from the shattered plates and bowls on the floor to the flipped tables and dented cans that had rolled under the edge of the counter. The pantries where wide open, revealing bags of sugar and flour that looked like they’d been used as punching bags.

“ _Fuck!”_ she yelped as she nearly slipped on a mix of egg and oil next to the ovens. She barely managed to grab the counter for support before shooting a glare at Pedro who was pretending not to have noticed as he continued filling out the paperwork, “ _Who the hell did you piss off?_ ”

He shrugged and didn’t answer. Jiménez rolled her eyes and carefully walked over to the freezers and started to reach for the handle when she noticed something. She crouched down and examined the splatter marks on the edge of the door.

_“Hey, Pedro. Have you checked the freezer yet?”_

“ _No,”_ he said, “ _Why? Did they fuck with the stuff in there too?”_

“ _I don’t know. Can you come over here though?”_ she asked.

Footsteps came up behind her before Pedro crouched down to her level and tried to find what she was looking at. His eyebrows crinkled together as he found the splatters before he shot up and pulled on the handle to the freezer. It was locked.

“ _Oh god,”_ he choked before almost sliding to the utensil drawers a few feet away. He rummaged through the bottom one before looking at María in horror and then coming back and frantically wiping the frost from the outside to the window, “ _The keys are gone._ ”

Jiménez looked at him in alarm before reaching for her phone and calling in back-up, “ _This is Security Chief Jiménez from LumériCo, I need back-up officers and a locksmith to the dining area pronto.”_

Pedro shrieked and stumbled back from the window where he’d managed to get a look into the freezer. Jiménez tucked the phone into her shoulder and peered into the freezer.

“ _Portero?_ ”

** October 24, 2076 – 08:00 – Watchpoint Apartments – Gibraltar, Wyoming **

Gabriel glared at the painted dragon on the door in front of him and regretted his own stubbornness. This was probably one of his stupider ideas in a while but out of his other few options this would probably be the safest in terms of coming back to everything being how it was when he left it.

It had been nearly three weeks since the run in with his terrifying new neighbors and the ass whooping he’d earned from Rita. He still wasn’t sure how pissed he was about that considering she’d managed to dig him out of his depression cave enough to begin functioning better. The door to Olivia’s room was actual partially cracked open again.

Gabriel could also tell that he’d had several break ins over the week. At first he’d been apprehensive but after having his kitchen stocked for a week with the addition of an assortment of desserts left on the counter he’d just excepted the help from his murderous neighbors.

He pounded on the door again and earned an annoyed grumble and an excited woof before the door swung open to reveal a disheveled blond. Lucy slide out from the apartment and leaned against Gabriel’s legs as her master glared at both of them.

“What,” Jack said, obviously not fully awake yet.

“I’ve got a favor to ask,” Gabriel started before hesitating, this wasn’t his _worst_ idea ever, “I’m gonna be gone a few days and need somebody to watch my cats.”

Jack looked at his in disbelief before leaning on the door and rubbing his face, “Yeah, sure. Why not?” he said after a beat of silence.

“Wait, seriously?” Gabriel asked, his eyebrows shooting up. Holy shit it actually worked.

“Sure, but are you asking me? Don’t you have other people you trust more with this?”

“I do, but they’re all going to be going with me to Mexico. One of your hitman buddies decided to stuff the CEO of LumériCo in a freezer for the weekend. I’d ask Doreen from across the hall but she’s too big of a snoop and can barely keep a cactus alive. Besides I know you’ve been in my apartment enough to know where everything is,” Gabriel said.

Jack snorted and stood up straight again, “Fair enough, I guess,” he said before giving Gabriel an appraising look.

“Just make sure you don’t overfeed Short. He’s a big enough fatass as it is. Gloria can eat as much as she wants though, she’s old, she’s earned it.”

“You want me to take notes?” Jack asked, a crooked smile unfolding on his face, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, why is his name Short? He isn’t exactly a small cat.”

Gabe hesitated again before sighing, “His actual name is Short Circuit. He was my daughter’s cat and she always said he wasn’t dumb, he just has a connection loose.”

Jack gave a quiet laugh before a slightly lost and pained look came across his face, “I remember my daughter naming her rabbit something that basically translated to Glue because he had a strange talent of having random things stuck in his fur.” He shook his head and placed the palm of his hand to his forehead, “I’ll take care of the cats. Have fun in Mexico,” He turned away but stopped, “Watch out for 209.”

With that the door closed and Gabriel was left very confused in he hall. As he started back to his room he pulled out his phone and typed out the warning so he could look up the number later at work. Alarm hit him just as he stepped through the door.

The databases only went to 160.

** 18:25 – Cheyenne Regional Airport – Cheyenne, Wyoming **

The nice thing about living in Wyoming was how much calmer the airports were than places like LAX and DIA. Sure you had to make a bunch of connecting flights in order to get to other places if you were flying commercially but the perks of being an international hitman task force included private military flights.

Gabriel watched as his team shuffled their equipment out of the van and into the cargo bay of the plane. It had been well over a year since their last case had them crossing national borders and they were a little out of practice. Their team was much smaller than it had been at one time, making it difficult to actually load everything with the same efficiency they’d once had.

“Lena? Can we get some help over here?” Angela yelled as she and Jamie struggled to load a bin full of lab equipment into one bay.

“I told you we should have brought Mako,” Jamie wheezed as he pushed up on the container and managed to slide it in, “Whoo! Got it!”

“You know we can’t take extra people with us,” Gabriel said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and heading to the cabin, “Besides if you’d been here earlier you could have gotten help.”

Reinhardt had stopped by earlier to help a few people load before taking of on his own flight back to Germany for some family matters. Mei had been one of the lucky few to have the giant help load her heavier things in.

“Aw, come on, he’s cleanup I’m sure we could have used him,” Jamison continued to complain as Lena picked up a tote that he’d been struggling with earlier and flung it into the cargo bay. She just giggled and pranced away when he tried to swing at her.

Once Winston and Lena finished packing and the group finished boarding into the cabin, Gabriel took his position at the front and appraised his mismatched group.

“Alright people, I know you all read the dossier,” he started, glaring at Fawkes who was doing his best to look innocent, “but I’m going to go over it just in case you missed anything. We will be landing in Dorado before unloading all the equipment into a trailer and heading to the hotel. In the morning, we will be setting up shop in LumériCo’s building, they were kind enough to clear out a room for us so we won’t have to travel between locations.”

“Do many of the employees speak English?” Mei asked.

“From what I’ve been told the majority can or at least they can get by with what they know,” Gabriel said, “Winston and I will do the majority of the talking though, just to make it easier. We also need to start thinking of people who would want Portero dead and mock up some different scenarios as well.”

Lena’s hand shot up, “Did you bring the marker boards?”

He started to say no just as Jamison pulled out the bag from under his seat and declared, “We sure did!”

Gabriel could only watch in dejection as the boards were passed around; the only one not given a board was Angela, not because she didn’t want one but because she had passed out as soon as she was in her seat. Gabriel snatched the board that was offered to him and dropped into his chair as the plane started to take off.

The detective watched his group as the plane ascended, each one beginning to furiously scribbled on their boards, he was fairly sure Jamie was trying to rope Mei into a game of hangman. Lena had wormed her way up against Angela’s side and was holding an extra board behind her own, presumably for when the coroner woke up in a couple hours. Winston was doing his best to write small with his oversized hands on the small white board. Gabriel looked down and glared at his own board before finally starting to write his own hypothesis.

He found Fareeha’s ideas coming to mind as he tried to formulate his ideas. HAI was notorious for disagreeing with the ethics of many other companies but how deep did that opinion run in their ranks? Would they contract hitmen to take out those they didn’t get along with? It was probably cheaper than all the lawyers they’d been using for their lawsuits against companies that tried to fight them.

But then again LumériCo’s trade disputes with Volskaya were becoming increasingly well-known, especially with Volskaya’s Mexico branch set to open in March. The two companies fought often over the power grid and various technologies that were to be shared. The disputes had the local and federal courts booked up for months. If it wasn’t for the support Volskaya would be receiving from the new partnership with HAI they would have given up months ago.

It also didn’t help that Chairman Volskaya harbors a grudge on Portero for his glaring public statements about the legitimacy of a woman leading an engineering based company. His comments attacked her age, her skills, and even her daughter as he tore through the reasons her company should fail. The partnership with HAI had presented yet another opportunity for Portero to try to point out how she needed a man to help her lead.

Gabriel glared down at his now full marker board and threw a scathing look at Jamison before fishing out his notebook and copying down the information. As he did so Jack came to mind. He should have asked him if he knew anything on the matter. Who knows, maybe they just have a corkboard full of hit listings in some hitman breakroom.

Nah, that’s dumb.

But maybe he should have tried to fish out more information on this hitman 209 that Jack had mentioned. The databases hadn’t helped at all, though Gabriel did find out that they actually had charted up to 180 with a few holes where hitman hadn’t been confirmed due to the sudden decrease in activity.

“Oi, boss man,” Jamie half-shouted, startling Angela awake and causing her to clock Lena in the jaw, “When are we sharing ideas? I’ve got a real doozy for you.”

Reyes sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before saying, “If you’re ready we can start now.”

“Aliens,” Jamison started.

“Next please.”

“Hey!” Jamie squawked indignantly.

“Winston, your ideas.”

“Oh, well I…” Winston cleared his throat, “Maybe it was an inside job? Someone would have had to have known Mr. Portero’s schedule to catch him while he was still in the building without anyone around. Maybe one of the staff was holding a grudge?”

“It could have been one of the kitchen staff,” Lena chimed in, still rubbing her sore jaw, “The report said that the hitman took the keys for the freezer which were hidden in a utensil drawer. Whoever hired them obviously gave the hitman detailed direction and knew the best areas to commit the crime.”

Mei looked thoughtful as she said, “The kitchen staff often know people well. Deidre at the sub shop across from the department knows most of our orders by heart now. He even has them ready before we come in most days.”

The entire plane nodded in agreement, Deidre was a blessing to police kind.

“Something still sounds off about that though,” Angela yawned, “Typically hitmen kill their targets unless they specifically were sent to maim. Putting Portero in the freezer to die of hypothermia has a very personal connotation to it. Whoever hired the hit wanted him to suffer a long death.”

“So, what you’re saying is that it was very personal?” Lena asked only to be answered by a chorus of soft snores, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Is she dead?” Jamie asked, Mei gently smacked the side of his head and gave him a look, “Ow! What?”

“It could have been someone harmed by the construction LumériCo has been doing with Vishkar to expand into Brazil,” Mei said, “I know they’ve been buying and destroying a lot of houses in the favela of Rio de Janeiro.”

Gabriel nodded thoughtfully, “Well, we’ve got a couple more hours till we land so keep thinking. Sounds like we’ve got a good start so far.”

Everyone nodded and turned back to their own activities. Gabriel watch for a while before leaning back into his seat and falling asleep to the hum of the engines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write~~
> 
> I am so glad I didn't get this done on time, I can't believe we know Sombra's name now! Makes my life so much easier.
> 
> This plot is going to kill me.


	9. Oct 24 08:00

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe I actually got this done

  **October 24, 2076 – 08:00 – LumériCo Corporate Office – Dorado, Mexico**

Gabriel was about ready to fall asleep in the hotel’s lobby chair as the rest of his team shuffled into the room. Angela looked marginally less dead than yesterday but the rest of the team was looking worse for wear.

Jamison bent backwards and cracked his back, “I think they put cement in the beds,” he declared. Lena nodded before collapsing onto the chair next to Gabe.

The beds were not the best that they’d ever slept on but it was all they could afford since the government decided they needed to cut costs. To be honest their team had been less than productive since the Society and Talon stopped working so publicly but it still would have been nice to get a decent hotel if they were being shipped to a country that had dissolved their hitman tracking program.

“Could have been worse,” Winston chimed in, “At least we didn’t have to haul our equipment over to LumériCo by ourselves.”

Lena hauled herself out of her chair and flung an arm around Winston’s neck the best she could, “Winston, love,” she started, leaning in close, “I got better sleep in the air force. During the war. Outside. In the mud. During firefights.”

Winston shifted awkwardly as all the field veterans in the group looked at him, Angela was mindlessly crunching on a muffin she’d found while Mei tried to hide her laughter as a sudden coughing fit. Gabriel just snorted in amusement as Jamie outright cackled.

“Jamison, Mei, I don’t think you count,” Winston sputtered in a weak attempt to cover himself.

“I had to fight a few times at my research base in northern Mongolia,” Mei pointed out, “My aim may not be the best but blasters don’t need accuracy.”

“Oi, I may not have been military but I bashed a few metal skulls in the bush,” Jamie declared proudly, “My Ma was so proud.”

“I’m sure she was,” Gabriel said as he stood, his knees audibly cracking and causing Angela to give him a stern look, “Well, once we’re done recounting war stories to the lab monkey-“

“Gorilla,”

“-we need to be heading over. They’re expecting us by at least nine and it’ll take a while to get over there,” Gabriel said.

“Ooo,” Lena gasped, “Are we going to get a tour from the local expert?”

“I was hoping to meet Grandpa Reyes,” Angela added.

Gabriel snorted, “Grandpas, and no, we will not be touring. We don’t have time for that.”

“Party pooper,” Lena whined even as she followed the group out the door, “We never get to do anything fun.”

“That’s because last time we had fun somebody took a round of paintballs to the face,” Angela said.

“I have no regrets,” Jamie said proudly as they all climbed into the van.

\--

Dorado was just as beautiful as it had been last time he’d visited. The streets were filled with color as people began prepping for Día De Los Muertos. Store fronts were filled with marigolds, papel picados, and painted skulls. Gabriel still remembered the time he’d spent the Day of the Dead with his Grandpas when he was thirteen, it almost hurt not to be able to stay the last few days until the celebration at least started.

“Woah, is that where we’re going?” Jamie said, breaking Gabe’s train of thought and directing him to the looming tower ahead.

“Judging by the giant sign that says ‘LumériCo’ I’d say it is,” Lena snarked back, slipping behind Angela to evade the pen thrown at her.

Angela sat up abruptly, a wild look playing in her eyes before she grabbed the pen and flicked it a Winston who sputtered in confusion. Jamie cackled wildly as Winston picked it up and studied if before attempting to throw it at Lena but managing to launch it all the way to the back of the van instead.

“Children,” Gabe warned, trying to keep the amusement from his voice. They were pulling up to the front of the building where two people in security uniforms waited for them.

“You must be the hitman specialists we called for,” the man said holding his hand out for Gabriel as the team walked up, “I am Angel Burciaga and this is Chief Jiménez.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gabriel replied before motioning to his team, “So where are you putting us?”

“Second floor, we tried to keep you as close to the crime scene as possible but we’ve been very busy the last few weeks with the new business in Rio. We’ve already taken the body to the morgue so you will have to travel to see it,” Jiménez said as she led them into the building.

The lobby was bustling with activity, people where coming in and out to pay bills, file paperwork, and who knows what else. Gabriel scanned the area and people as they passed, many people stared back but one person caught his attention as they stepped through a doorway. A young woman with a shock of white hair and piercing green eyes stood at one of the counters, their eyes met and she nodded before disappearing back into the crowd.

“-Gabe?” Angela said, nudging him back to reality.

“What?”

“Did you hear any of what she just said?”

He looked back toward where he’d seen the woman, “Uh, yeah…”

“Alright then where are they taking us?” she scoffed.

“To our equipment…”

“No- Gabriel are you okay?” Angela asked as she tried to find what Gabriel was looking for, “Did you see something?”

“I don’t know.”

A sudden and loud string of curses pulled the pair’s attention back to the group. Chief Jiménez was standing in the middle of what looked to be a dining area, sans tables, trying to calm down an irate man in an apron.

“ _I will not have a goddamn monkey-“_

“Gorilla,” Winston growled under his breath.

“ _-in my kitchen, I’ve got enough shit to worry about without the health inspector adding animal contamination to my list of shit I need to fix!_ ”

Jiménez sighed, “ _Pedro, the more you cooperate the faster you get your kitchen back, now shut up and go show them where they need to go.”_

“ _Why don’t you?”_ he snarled before chucking the spoon he’d been waving around at the floor and stomping over to the group, “Alright _assholes,_ follow me,” Pedro said motioning violently to the kitchen doors covered in ‘Do Not Cross’ tape.

As the team stepped in they immediately noticed the mess and set into their work modes to mentally catalogue every detail. Their guide had started complaining about something loudly in Spanish again but only Gabriel paid attention as the rest started to wander around.

“ _I come into work after my first full weekend off in forever and I have to deal with this shit and it couldn’t have been anybody less the Portero in my freezer. I have to throw away everything in there now. You know how much money that is? It’s going to take forever to get the money for a new vent system now!”_ Pedro grumbled.

“ _Do you have any idea of who would have done this?_ ” Gabriel asked slowly picking his way over to the freezer.

“ _Oh look, west-mex speaks Spanish,”_ Pedro grumbled, completely ignoring the glares he received from both Reyes and Winston, “ _Yeah I got a couple ideas of who would have offed the bastard. I can think of four assholes in this company alone, not to mention HAI, Volskaya, and that stupid DJ in Rio that’s getting all pissy over having his home bulldozed.”_

Gabriel crinkled his eyebrows, “ _Lucio?”_

“ _Oh yeah, he’s put up enough of a fight with Vishkar it wouldn’t surprise me if he would have come all the way up here just to stuff Portero in the freezer. Only problem is that he’s off on tour with some Korean chic in Europe and had a show the night Portero was put on ice.”_

 _“You actually looked that up?”_ Reyes said bemused.

“ _Hey, I just want my fucking kitchen back,”_ Pedro said defensively, one hand was absentmindedly brushing the top of one of the stoves.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and crouched down to inspect the chipped edges of the cabinet closest to the freezer door, “ _Who in the company do you think would have tried to kill Portero?”_

_“Besides me? Uh, Gonzalo Flores in IT, López in security, Rodrigo Mendoza, and probably Yolanda Mejía over in mailing. They all took some heavy hits and demotions a couple years back. They like to complain to my cooks all the time.”_

Gabriel huffed and stood, “ _Why where they demoted? Something happen?”_

Pedro snorted, “ _Nobody claims to know shit about it but I heard Mendoza bitching about HAI kicking us away from the US border when they opened a new research center in Texas around that time. Hell, maybe you should go talk to_ Ms. Wantori. _She’s been hanging around town ever since word got out that Portero was killed.”_

“ _But you just found him yesterday morning,_ ” Gabriel said confused, “ _How did she get here so fast?”_

 _“Exactly,”_ Pedro said before leading Gabriel back out of the kitchen alone. The floor was still covered in a disgusting amalgamation of goo’s making the action all the more difficult.

As soon as Jamie saw Gabe and Pedro move away from the freezer he grabbed Lena and Mei to go over and, most likely, try to do a rough reenactment of the fight. Mei looked less than excited but by the way Winston had jammed himself into the pantry it was obvious he was not so willing to participate. Angela was doing her best to find and map the trail where Portero had been and where the fight could have started and what had been used as weapons.

“ _Ok so it’s pretty obvious that Volskaya or HAI was behind this,”_ Pedro said as soon as they cleared the doors, “ _Volskaya’s chairman has had her panties all in a twist ever since Portero made his speech denouncing all of Volskaya’s activities in the Americas. And let’s face it, the Wantori’s are omnics and obviously hate us so HAI is definitely not our friend.”_

Gabriel sighed and rubbed his face, “ _I’ll keep that in mind. Was there something you were going to show me?”_

Pedro gave him a conspirator smile before leading him over to the vent across the room and pulling the grate out to reveal a card, “ _Thought you might like to see what I found.”_

Gabriel glanced over at Pedro before slipping on a glove and picking up the card. The logo was incredibly damaged but the number on it was clear as day.

_54_

Gabriel immediately rushed back to the kitchen and grabbed the booklet from Angela’s pocket and flipped to the 50s. Angela turned around in confusion as Gabriel flipped through the mini hitman catalogue.

_Mogwai: 54 - Identity: Unknown_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse Pedro, he's kind of a dick.
> 
> I'm moving official updates to Thursday because it's been kind of difficult to get the time to write these so please be patient if I miss an update. I've been working on Inktober stuff over on my writing tumblr so if you want to check that out go ahead, Stef and Sol will probably make an appearance. Oh yeah, I also changed their last name from Waverly to Wantori because I decided I hated their last name *shrugs*


	10. Oct 24 13:45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello it's me. The update on Tuesday was an accident. Please forgive me and my inability to read.
> 
> On this week's episode we find out Gabe's late hubby's name, who the fuck Stef is, and how bad Kat is at writing normal characters.
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> tw: minor gore

** October 24, 2076 – 13:45 – LumériCo Corporate Office **

It always amazed Gabriel how fast his team could work. Back in LA it took the entire day to have a crime scene half the size of the one they were working on to get catalogued and photographed. It probably didn’t help that the head of the forensics team would leave every fifteen minutes to go take a smoke break and about half the team of cops and analysts would go do the same. Andre used to complain when he came home smelling like cigarettes.

When he received the invitation to move out to Wyoming it had been more of Andre’s excitement than his own that had lead him to accept it. Between their daughter getting involved in the local gangs and the harassment Gabriel had been receiving from his higher-ups, it had been an easy decision, even with Andre’s condition.

The establishment of the hitman tracker group had lead Gabriel to quickly realize what Andre had been talking about when he said that Gabe worked for a barn full of idiots. When he’d first started the culture shock was intense, not only was he working with people who cared about what they did, but they were also good at it. Liao and Ana used to laugh at him every time he walked into the room ready to yell at someone to hurry up and finish only to find the entire room bagged and tagged with the team already packing up the equipment.

Now he found himself and his team breaking for a late lunch with almost the entire kitchen area done. All that was left to do was finish the dining room and test the more time sensitive materials in the mobile lab while Jamie and Lena to figure the escape routes, both conventional and unconventional. Gabriel also needed to hunt down the people the Pedro had mentioned and maybe call Jack to see what he might know about ‘Mogwai:54’.

He groaned and rubbed his face, that wasn’t a call he wanted to make. He was vaguely aware of Angela giving him a concerned look when he noticed the woman in the doorway, watching him. He locked eyes with her just before she grinned and ducked into the hallway.

“Oi, boss man,” Jamie said, “You look like somebody pissed in your cheerios. What’s the matter?”

Lena snorted and whispered to Angela, “It’s almost like Jesse never left.”

Gabriel screwed up his nose and glared at Jamie before standing up from the table, “I have to make a call,” was all he said before stepping out. The table exchanged a few looks of confusion before going back to eating.

Reyes walked quickly through the halls, keenly aware of the fact that he was being followed. No one he passed seemed to acknowledge the fact that there was something very out of place in their own place of business. The hive mind effect was becoming quite evident the more he’d explored the areas surrounding the cafeteria.

He shoved the door open to the room they had set up as a temporary lab and turned to face his pursuer… only to let out a manly squeak when she was standing only a foot behind him.

“You’re even more paranoid than I thought,” she stated with a smile before ducking under Gabriel’s arm and into the lab, “Cute set-up, should’ve brought another bag for evidence though. You haven’t even found the other crime scene yet.”

“Who the- What?” Gabriel demanded, hand clutched to his chest as he tried to have a heart attack.

“Oh, don’t act so coy Detective, you know who I am,” she said before holding out her hand, “Stef Wantori, your local AI expert and new best friend. Don’t bother telling me about yourself, I already know what I need to know.”

Gabriel just glared at the outstretched hand until she shrugged and dropped it. This was not the behavior he expected from such a renowned programmer, the articles he read about her repeatedly mentioned her cold exterior and refined looks. The fluffy haired, bubbly individual currently grinning at him was definitely not that.

“Such a shame you know,” Stef said, “HAI was looking into helping fund your program a couple years ago. We could have made a beautiful organization together; high-end equipment, interesting problems to fix… you really are an interesting group.”

“What do you want?” Gabriel demanded.

“A man of few words I see,” Stef said in a chiding tone, “You’re almost worse than Jack was, but I might be reading into that too much. Maybe you should stop by sometime; I’d be happy to give you a free therapy session, it’s the least we could do for you.”

“Or you can stay out of my head and tell me why you’re here,” Gabriel said and after a brief tick, “And you can tell me how you know Jack.”

Stef turned to him and smiled, “Oh, are you concerned about Jack?”

“Answer the question.”

“It seems odd to me that you’d care about a man you barely know, especially since he tried to kill you,” she said.

Gabriel glared hard at her before reaching for his gun, “That’s none of your-“

“Ooo,” Stef said in delight before hopping up to sit on the table, “You’re going to shoot me? You must really like him. Tell you what, I’ll answer for you, ok? You read up on him, right? So, you know how much he lost; A romantic partner, a daughter, his friends, and his mental stability. He’s just like you!”

“Shut up,” he growled, leveling his gun at her. He didn’t know why he liked Jack- why he trusted him with the few things that mattered to him. Maybe it was his misguided belief that hitmen weren’t conscious of their acts and that they could recover. Maybe it was his own desperation for human contact. Whatever it was, Stef had no business with it.

“You also feel bad for hitmen in general, the papers may have called you ruthless but your kill history is shockingly short. I know you care about people despite that prickly personality,” Stef continued, completely unfazed by the gun being pointed in her direction, “My dad’s the same way. He believes humans can change given the right circumstances.”

“The hitman we captured died in jail no matter what we did, what was the point of making the cleanup crew travel if they didn’t have to. Now, either leave or answer the question,” Gabriel barked earning a frown from the woman.

“Fine, you’re no fun anyway, Mr. Reyes,” Stef said hopping off her perch and walking up until the muzzle of the gun was against her chest, “If you want to talk you’re gonna have to put the pea shooter away.”

Slowly the gun was lowered but not without Gabriel shooting a very dirty look at her. She wasn’t someone he could trust, it unsettled him even being around her. Stef’s eyes followed his gun until it was safely holstered again.

“What do you know?” Gabe asked taking a step back from her.

“Well, first off,” as soon as she started talking her eyes began to glow. Gabriel gapped as a bright green holoscreen popped up between them with what looked like hieroglyphs scrolling across the screen, “Burciaga is hiding something from your team. Now, you’re not legally allowed to investigate outside of the hitman’s identity but this is a big step towards your greater cause.”

“What cause?” Gabriel asked as the screen multiplied with legal documents he’d signed for the trip on them, “Where did you get those?”

 “Your contracts are visible to the public,” She continued, completely ignoring the first question, “Second, a lot of information is about to surface, bringing about the end of empires. While we’ll try to stave it off; death is inevitable.”

“You know I could bring you in for terroristic threats, right?”

“Shhh, I don’t like empty threats. Third and most importantly. Jack is your key,” She said, waving a small memory stick in his face, “The end is nearing, Gabriel.”

He snatched the data stick from her hand and rolled it around in his hand, “What is this?”

“She is Athena, once you uncover the first Hitman Compound you’ll need to upload her to the mainframe. Take Jack with you, he knows what to do with her,” Stef said before bouncing towards the door, “At 23:40 the security system will go down, you’ll have twenty minutes to find the other crime scene and get your evidence. Good luck, detective.”

“What makes you think I’m going to-” Gabriel said, confusion and frustration tinting his words as he turned to see an empty doorway. He hurried to the hall but saw no one there, “Okay then…”

Dumfounded, Gabriel found his way to a desk chair and sat, carefully studying the data stick containing ‘Athena’. The stick was intricately designed, a black plastic case with bands of silver made to look like flat circuit wires and a small purple square with a keyhole painted on the side. There was also a tiny switch on the side that didn’t move when Gabriel tried to pull it down.

He sighed and leaned back after pocketing the device, considering his option. How the hell was he supposed to find this secret crime scene? This building was at least fifteen stories tall and he could barely navigate from the lobby to the lab on his own.

After a few minutes passed, Gabriel pulled his phone out, he was going to make this call at some point, why not just get it over with?

The phone rang once before being picked up, “ _Hello?_ ”

“Is Jack around?” Gabriel asked awkwardly as Arashi groaned and slammed the phone down.

“ _Jack! Phone_!” Arashi shouted before banging what sounded like a metal pot on the counter.

“Give me a second,” came a voice just barely audible from the background.

“ _Jack! Phone!”_

“ _Dammit, Shimada, I said give me a second!_ ” barked the voice before Gabriel had to pull his phone further away to stop himself from going deaf.

 “ _Lucy, glasses_ ,” Jack said before turning his attention back to the phone, “Hello?”

“Morrison, it’s Reyes,” Gabriel said, mentally facepalming about how stupidly formal he sounded, “I had a couple quick questions for you.”

“The cats are still alive if that’s what you’re wondering,” Jack replied, a smile evident in his voice, “And none of the neighbors have tried to break in.”

Gabriel sighed as a feeling of relief washed over him – _dammit why **did** Jack have to be so likeable for someone who’s killed so many people?_ “Good to know but I was wondering if I could ask you about one of your… coworkers.”

“Well, a lot of them died in an office fire and the shooting afterward,” Jack said with a sour tone, “But if you’re asking about the hitmen there’s only so much I can help with.”

“Sorry,” Gabriel said, internally kicking himself.

“It’s fine, what did you need?”

“What do you know about a hitman under the callsign ‘Mogwai:54’? We found their card in a vent but the logo was too worn to see and we don’t have a documented identity for them.”

“I don’t remember anything off the top of my head. We didn’t exactly get to make friends with our fellow zombies,” Jack sighed, “Give me a second to think about it.”

Gabriel waited patiently as the other side went quiet, he felt bad for making Jack think about it but he didn’t have too many other choices. There were no other documented hitmen in the 50s group so he didn’t even know the region they could have come from.

The sound of Lucy whining pulled him back just as Jack started talking again,

“Batch five would have been made around the end of the Omnic Crisis before I was even stationed in South Korea. My batch was primarily from south-eastern Asia and batch six was from the Australia and New Zealand area. But batch five wasn’t ever talked about; not even my mentor, as loud mouthed as the fucker had been, ever said anything about the batch five,” Jack said with a deep sigh, “Other than that, I have no idea. Previous batches weren’t ever talked about, especially if they failed. They all probably died from processing before being hired out for any hits. Batch nine was like that, the drug they were on caused their blood vessels to rupture after two months of injections. They basically liquified overnight.”

“Christ,” Gabe hissed, his stomach heaved at the mental image.

“The only reason I even know that was because they made what was left of my batch and batch eight clean up the bodies before our morning doses,” Jack gave a dark laugh.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked-” Gabe lamented.

“Not your fault, you didn’t know,” Jack paused before saying, “There’s a lot I hope never becomes known about that place.”

 “I have another question,” Gabriel said after a moment of silence, “What do you know about Stef Wantori?”

“Is this what I am now? Professional cat-sitter and a walking IMBD?” Jack huffed in amusement, “She’s one of the head programmers and therapists at the HAI Corporation. She specializes mostly in trying to ‘correct’ trauma and illnesses with new implants that can help shift imbalances in brain chemistry. She’s also well known for her research and book on coping mechanisms and how they work.”

“Is that it?” Gabriel pushed. Jack had to know something else, Stef sure though he did.

“If you’re wanting specifics you’re going to have to ask,” Jack grumbled.

“I- never mind. I need to go, I should be home in a couple days. Tell my children I love them,” Gabriel said.

“Okay?” Jack managed to say before Gabriel hung up.

He sighed and slumped into his chair, staring at the ceiling as he started to zone out. He should have tried to get Stef to talk more, she obviously knew something he didn’t.

The sound of heels coming up the hallway alerted him to Angela’s presence before she had a chance to speak, “Are you doing ok?”

“Yeah, Ang,” Gabriel said, sitting back up to see the coroner standing in front of him with a box full of evidence, “Everything going ok with the dining area?”

“Hah,” Angela laughed as she headed over to the lab equipment, “Lena got stuck getting into the vent system so we’ve safely ruled that out as an escape route… that is unless the hitman was smaller than her and still able to push a man the size of Portero into a freezer.”

“Doesn’t seem too likely does it?” Gabriel said, shaking his head and standing, “I need to go snoop around a little bit, call me if you need me for anything.”

“Be careful,” Angela turned to him, “I know you’re not wearing your braces so please avoid the stairs.”

“Does this place even have stairs? You’d think Vishkar designed it with all the floating fixtures,” the glare that Angela gave him caused Gabe to sigh in defeat, “Fine, no stairs.”

\---

LumériCo’s corporate offices where a lot bigger than Reyes had expected. It took asking directions twice to find his way to the wing where they kept IT and Mailing. The rooms where conveniently placed under a floor under the management offices, making it nice for the office staff but a nightmare for the mailmen, especially since the public elevator didn’t come up this far. Gabriel had to hunt for fifteen minutes before he managed to find the staff elevator and even then, he’d needed to wait for security to take him up.

Now he found himself wandering slowly down the hall, peaking into every room he passed in hopes of finding somebody, this place felt like a ghost town compared to the lower floors. Even the ever-abundant security guards who’d helped him get up here were nowhere to be seen.

“ _Excuse me, can I help you?_ ”

Gabriel turned to see a man in a hideous paisley button up walking up to him with the most overconfident swagger he’d ever had the misfortune of seeing. He glanced at the man’s breast pocket to see the gold name tag with ‘ _Rodrigo Mendoza - Executive Assistant’_ printed on it.

“ _As a matter of fact, you can,_ ” Gabriel said, “ _I just had a couple que-“_

_“Whatever Pedro told you is wrong,”_ Rodrigo interrupted waving his hand in Gabriel’s face, “ _That idiot is so paranoid, it’s a wonder the kitchen can even function. If it wasn’t for his sister I’d have had Portero fire him years ago.”_

“ _I think everyone has wanted him gone at somebody,”_ came another voice from behind them.

“ _See? Even Yolanda agrees,”_ Rodrigo said slinging his arm around the older woman standing in the door to the mailing room. She looked less than pleased to have her blouse being ruffled by him and gave the secretary an annoyed look.

“ _Oh, shut up, Mendoza,_ ” she barked grabbing his wrist and throwing his arm of her shoulder “ _You’re almost worse than the glorified fry cook, at least Pedro can do his job right.”_

_“So mean,”_ Mendoza whined as Yolanda fixed her glare on Gabriel.

“ _Who are you?”_ she said, stabbing a finger in Gabriel’s direction.

“ _Detective Gabriel Reyes, I’m here investigating the murder,”_ he replied, gawking as Mendoza tried again to wrap an arm around Yolanda’s neck.

“ _Reyes?”_ she said before turning to punch Mendoza square in the gut, _“Any relation to Brock and Antonio Reyes?”_

_“Er- yes,”_ Gabriel said awkwardly as Mendoza hit the floor with an overdramatic grunt, the man was worse than him at theatrics, “ _They’re my grandparents, why?”_

_“Oh, they’re my neighbors,”_ Yolanda said pleasantly before taking Gabriel’s hand and leading him into the mailing room. “ _Such sweet men- Flores! My computer is acting up again! – we have coffee on Fridays. Small world, isn’t it?”_

Gabriel stared wide-eyed and nodded as a rather rotund man hustled through the door with a laptop, grumbling obscenities to himself as he sat down at one of the desks and opened the computer. Yolanda turned to send a scathing look at the new arrival before bringing Gabriel to what looked like the breakroom, considering all the coffee cups, but it could hardly be called that. Every available surface was covered in an assortment of stamps, glue, and… newspaper clippings?

These people were crazy, he decided as he was poured a cup of lukewarm coffee by the still chattering mailroom manager. What he could still see of the mailroom from the door was an absolute train wreck. Envelopes were everywhere, papers laid on top of the shredders, pens broken on the floor; not to mention the distinct lack of people in the room.

“ _I apologize for interrupting,”_ Gabriel said, not even sure of the topic being discussed anymore, “ _I have a few questions to ask and then I need to get going, I only have a short amount of time to wrap up here.”_

_“Oh, of course, just like Brock, you are a busy man,”_ Yolanda said waving her hands, “ _Go ahead darling.”_

Gabriel paused in confusion at that statement before asking, _“You worked directly under Portero, right? What did you think of him?”_

_“Oh, he was a complete snake in the grass,”_ Yolanda said cheerfully, “ _He was very close with our security, have you even noticed how big the security team is? It’s a bit overkill if you ask me, not to mention he and Burciaga were thick as thieves.”_

_“How so?”_

_“Burciaga was always running errands for him even though it’s Mendoza’s job. I know my nephew is useless but he is fairly competent at his job, it’s not like it’s hard.”_

_“Mendoza is your nephew?”_ Gabriel asked, incredibly confused considering how they’d been acting in the hallway.

_“How do you think he got the job in the first place,”_ she cackled, “ _And now with King Viper gone he’ll probably be fired due to incompetency.”_

_“King Viper?”_ Gabriel asked. How far down did this rabbit hole go? Hell, how did this company function?

“ _That’s what the old timers call Portero. López, the elevator guard, actually fought with him during the war and brought that gem back up when Portero pissed him off and gave Burciaga the position he’d promised López. Evidentially, Portero has always been a two-faced son-of-a-bitch,”_ Yolanda stated, a strange look crossed her face before she abruptly stood back up, “ _Well it’s getting late and I have more work to do. So if you’d escort yourself back to the hall that would be great.”_

Gabriel just looked at her in confusion as she sauntered off without even touching her own drink. _Well that was a sudden change of mood,_ Gabe thought as he found his way back out to the vacant hall. Rodrigo had managed get up and probably go sulk somewhere.

_“Don’t trust what she says,”_ came a nasally voice from behind him, Gabriel turned to see the IT guy from earlier walk up behind him, “ _She deals in rumors.”_

_“What do you mean?”_ Gabriel sighed, he was getting very tired of all the conspiracies.

Flores looked down the hall in fear before stepping closer to the detective, “ _We’re all in trouble.”_

_“You’re going to have to be more specific than that_ ,” Gabriel rolled his eyes. He was very much done with this conversation.

Flores gulped before digging out a keyring, “ _There’s something in the basement that Burciaga doesn’t want me to see. He won’t let me go to the server room, I think whatever it is might help your investigation.”_

Gabriel took the keyring and swallowed hard. This had to be a set-up, no way Stef had been telling the truth, “ _Why are you telling me this?”_

“ _I don’t want to die like the others. Something is coming,”_ Flores whispered. Gabriel had to hold his breath to avoid the stale coffee smell, “ _I found something in the codes. I don’t know what it means but the codes are never wrong. Whatever is going to happen is going to be big.”_

It felt like cold water had been dumped over Reyes’s head, Olivia had said that just after they’d moved to Wyoming. Something or someone had been messing with her programs even after she’d gotten a new computer with tougher firewalls and stronger security protocols. She’d been unsettled for the better part of a day before running out the door proclaiming that the codes told her something big was going to happen and that she’d be back soon.

She never came back. The explosion had taken the last bit of family Gabriel had built.

“ _Flores, I need you to tell me everything you know, what others?”_ Gabriel hissed with urgency. Flores looked at him with wide eyes before swinging around to check the hall, “ _Flores- Gonzalo, please._ ”

“ _LumériCo, it’s corrupt beyond what anyone knows,_ ” he said, “ _The sooner you can leave, the safer you’ll be. Burciaga is-“_

“ _Flores_!”

Both men jumped as Burciaga sauntered up to them. Flores gave Reyes a panicked look as he came closer. Gabriel could feel the disapproval radiating off Burciaga.

“ _There you are!_ ” he said in a pleased tone, “ _I have been looking for you everywhere! The security system is acting up again, the computers won’t let me in._ ”

“ _Are you using the right login?”_ Flores said, the fear immediately replaced by frustration. He started walking into the IT room before Burciaga even had a chance to respond leaving Gabriel alone in the hall.

He turned to the security specialist, “ _Does your system have a bad habit of doing that?”_ Gabe asked.

“ _That would be none of your business detective. You’re here to find the hitman, nothing else. Now, if you could come with me, your team is almost done and I would like you out of the building as soon as possible. I don’t need you harassing the staff any more than necessary,”_ Angel said, grabbing Gabriel’s sleeve and pulling him to the elevator, “ _Punching Mendoza wasn’t your best idea.”_

Gabriel froze and ripped his arm away, “ _I didn’t touch Mendoza, it was Yolanda that hit him.”_

_“Yolanda?”_ Burciaga laughed, _“You think that you can push the blame onto a sweet old lady? I thought you were smarter than that, Reyes.”_

Gabriel sputtered as he was pushed into the elevator. What the hell? What was going on here? Gabriel wondered as the elevator descended. His phone started vibrating as soon as he passed the ninth floor.

-

Angela Z. – ‘We have everything bagged and ready to go’

Angela Z. – ‘Are u ready 2 go?’

**2 missed calls from Angela Z.**

Angela Z. – ‘Gabe, were r u”

Lena O. – ‘Oi boss. we got the goods. its time 2 go’

Angela Z. – ‘They r kicking us out in 5. Where r u’

Chef Dad – ‘I hear you’re in Dorado’

Jamison F. – ‘We r leavin u here’

**3 missed calls from Angela Z.**

-

“What the hell?” Gabriel said to himself before jogging out of the elevator to the lobby of the building where his team stood with the bulk their equipment. Jiménez was talking to Angela while also messing with her radio.

“OI!” Jamie shouted, making Chief Jiménez jump, “Found him!”

 “Gabe,” Angela sighed in relief, “Where have you been. Why weren’t you answering me?”

Gabriel opened his mouth to speak before catching the look Jiménez was giving him, “Phone was on silent,” he said, “Sorry, to make you wait.”

Angela gave him a look of confusion as he grabbed one of the boxes and started heading to the door with the rest of the team in tow. Gabriel barely caught Mei asking Angela if he was ok as they loaded up the evidence. No, he was not ok and he did not want to come back tomorrow for the final sweep.

Gabriel glanced down at his watch and sighed to himself. Scratch that, he didn’t want to come back tonight.

\---

By the time Gabriel had managed to catch a cab back to the business district it was damn near 23:30 and he had to jog the remaining three blocks before he was just across the street from the LumériCo offices.

He clutched at the keys in his pocket before glancing down the street. The music from one of the bars a block away was echoing down the alleys but no one was around. Quickly he checked his watch.

23:38

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Gabriel jumped and swung around to see Stef standing behind him with another person dressed in shades of black and purple. Stef looked very pleased with herself having scared him again. The mystery person next to her shook with silent laughter behind the dark glass mask concealing the better part of their head.

“What are you doing here?” Gabriel asked.

“Well, you managed to get the keys and location of where you need to be so I figured you might want some help narrowing down your options,” Stef said, motioning to her partner, “Sombra is here to help you. They’re also the one taking down security for you.”

“ ** _LumériCo has better security than the last time I had to do this,_** ” Sombra said, their voice was heavily modified but the edge of annoyance was still present in the way they crossed their arms and the “>:[“ face that flashed across their mask.

“Oh good,” Gabriel huffed, “I’m working with Daft Punk.”

Sombra snorted and a ‘>:]’ ran across the screen, Stef looked at the both of them and grinned, “Whelp, time is of the essence. And look! I even brought you gloves,” she cheered bringing out a box of thick latex gloves, “Good luck!”

Gabriel glanced down at his watch as soon as she disappeared around the corner.

23:40

“ ** _Time to go_** ,” Sombra said, bolting across the street. Gabriel followed, easily keeping pace with them as they snuck down the side of the building. Sombra stopped at the kitchen employee’s door and tapped the lock with one finger, not even a second passed before the door popped open, “ ** _Let’s get started_**.”

Gabriel nodded and took up position behind them as they made their way through the winding halls of this stupidly complex utilities building, how Sombra was navigating all these corridors was beyond him.

“Flores said something about the room being downstairs and near the server room,” Gabriel whispered as they slowed down to listen for any night guards.

Sombra nodded before pulling out a machine pistol from under her coat and tensing as footsteps came towards the, “ ** _Enemies on my radar._** ”

Gabriel reached for his own gun before noticing the sign by the door behind them and grabbing Sombra’s arm. They resisted before realizing where he was taking them and hurrying into the room. At first it looked like it was just a plain looking storage room but the fire exit signs lead them to a set of service stair.

“This looks like it might be easier than expected,” Gabriel said earning a ‘:]’ from Sombra before a countdown popped up on her visor in bright purple lights.

12:45

“I’d say we’re making ok time,” Gabriel said as they descended the steps. He was incredibly grateful now for Angela’s constant nagging about wearing his knee braces right now as the stairs went down about two floors. The hum of generators and water pumps overwhelmed flooded over them as they stepped onto a filthy concrete floor.

“ ** _Disgusting_** ,” Sombra grumbled, kicking at a pile of dried mud. The lights above them flickered as one of the massive generators kicked off. The pair worked their way through the room, trying not to trip on discarded pieces of pipe and muck while the lights flickered worse or even just burned out.

“So, are you a hitman or what?” Gabriel finally asked, the question had been burning him since they’d appeared.

“ ** _No_** ,” they said, “ ** _I was saved from that terrible fate, thank God._** ”

“Then what are you doing here?”

Sombra turned to him and shook their head, “ ** _Trying to put an end to this so I can go home. Now shut up and walk, we shouldn’t have much further to go._** ”

Gabriel let them take the lead and watched them pick around another chunk of rusted pipe. Under the flickering lights his mind wandered, remembering the to the woods just outside town and the way Andre had laughed when Olivia fell off a log and into the lake. He shook his head and hurried after Sombra.

It took a while before they made it to the next door. Sombra again tapped in with one finger but this time a holoscreen popped up. They groaned in annoyance before tapping in a few lines of code and opening the door. They stepped into the next room before looking back at Gabriel.

12:52

He stepped into the hub and looked at the line of steel doors before noticing the distinct lack of electronic locks. It took a second of fumbling before Gabriel managed to pull out the keyring and step up to the door. Of course, Flores hadn’t told him which key to use so Gabriel had to go through the time-consuming act of trying each key in every door.

“ ** _Can you hurry up_** ,” Sombra said, looking anxiously around the room just as the second door Gabriel tried popped open.

“Patience is a virtue,” Gabriel grumbled as he pushed the door open and stepped in, Sombra gagged behind him as they stepped into what looked like a butcher shop, “Holy shit…”

Blood puddled and stained the floors while chunks of viscera clung to the walls next to deep gouges. One body laid in the corner, skin gray and cold. Gabriel slipped on his gloves as Sombra slowly walked through the room behind him.

“ ** _I don’t like this_** ,” Sombra said in disgust, “ ** _This room was built with a drain in the floor, they knew what this would be used for… and next to a server room no less._** _”_

“What kind of sick fucks-” Gabriel muttered, slowly turning the corpse’s head towards him and brushing the hair from its desiccated face, “Female, probably around her late twenties. Christ, look at all the bruises and lacerations… she looks like she was beaten to death,” he said as he examined her arms and shoulders, “There’s no way all this blood is hers either.”

“ ** _Alicia Calvo_** ,” Sombra said squatting behind him to get a good look still gagging as they leaned closer, “ ** _She was an intern that went missing over a week ago. Nobody reported seeing her leave the building._** ”

“ _And nobody will be seeing you leaving either,”_ said a voice from the doorway.

Sombra and Gabriel whipped around to see Burciaga standing in the doorway with two other guards. He looked all too pleased with himself to have cornered the pair in the makeshift torture chamber.

“ _What the fuck is this?”_ Gabriel demanded wildly gesturing to the corpse behind him, “ _What do you think you’re doing?”_

“ _Oh, you’ll know soon enough_ ,” Burciaga said before waving his men forward, “ _I warned you to keep your nose out of our business, Detective.”_ Gabriel went to draw his gun before Sombra jumped in front of him.

**“Apagando las luces!”** they cried throwing their arm to the ceiling as a wave of energy flashed around them and taking out the lights.

Gabriel didn’t have much time to react before Sombra was pulling him towards the guards who were too busy panicking to pull their weapons. A few well-placed blows and the pair blasted past them and back into the utility room as the lights began to flicker back on. The time flashed across their mask when they rounded the first generator.

23:57

Burciaga’s voice echoed after them along with the clatter of his cohorts bouncing off the first pump as they ran to catch up, “ _After them! Don’t let them get away!”_

_“ **Where is it?**_ ” Sombra growled as they dug into their pockets, trying not to slip in a mud puddle.

The dirt coating the floor was becoming gradually more difficult to navigate for Gabriel the further they went. He should have worn his heavy-duty braces. Pain shot up his leg and just as the exit became visible; he fell.

“ ** _Gabe!_** ” Sombra cried when he hit the floor.

“Go! Get out of here!” he yelled as he tried to push himself up, leg pulsing with sharp pain. Sombra grabbed his elbow and attempted to haul him back on his feet, “I said go!”

“ _I hear them up ahead.”_

_“ **I’m not leaving you here old man**_ ,” Sombra hissed as they managed to sling his arm around their neck. As quick as they could manage, they began to drag Gabriel behind the closest water pump and dumped him behind it, “ ** _Shit_** ,” they said, digging through their pockets again.

“ _I don’t see them, Boss.”_ one of the guards called.

“ _Well keep looking, they couldn’t have gotten far!”_

“ ** _Ahah!_** ” Sombra declared as they pulled out a small device from their pocket and looked toward Gabriel, “ ** _Always leave yourself a back door._** ”

With a quick twist and a toss, the device hit the ground and a portal popped open in front of them.

23:59

“ _What was that?”_

_“ **Come on, Gabe**_ ,” Sombra said as they hauled him back up and towards the portal. Gabriel looked behind them in horror as the guards spotted them and began sprinting towards them. They weren’t going to make it, “ ** _Almost there- shit!_** _”_

A shot rang out before two sets of arms reached through the portal and drug them through. Sombra and Gabriel hit the ground hard just as the portal closed behind them. Slowly Gabriel managed to look up to where Stef and another man were standing.

“See? Told you it would be fine,” Stef said as her partner knelt down to help the pair up.

“Fine? FINE?!” Gabriel yelled as the man helped him back to his feet, “Not only did I find some poor girl’s body, but we also got chased through a fucking basement and shot at! Do you know what kind of trouble I can get in for trespassing?”

Stef gave him a blank look, “You really think they’re going to try anything with all the evidence you collected? You literally found the skeleton in their closet.”

“I don’t have anything but a pair of dirty gloves!” Gabriel roared, advancing towards the woman.

“ ** _But I do_** ,” Sombra said as Stef’s partner picked them up bridal-style, their hand was balled into their side as a red stain crept into their glove. Slowly they lifted their other hand and tapped their visor, “ ** _Photo and video evidence; time stamped and everything._** ”

Stef gave Gabriel a smug smile before she turned to the others, “You did good work detective,” Gabriel glared at her before looking to where Sombra was curled into the man in pain, “Jean, come on. Do want a ride, Reyes?” Stef asked as a black hover car pulled up alongside them.

“I’d rather walk,” Gabriel spit before hobbling away from the group. It took nearly thirty minutes before he could call a cab, he didn’t bother going with his team back to LumériCo for the final sweep the next day either, he’d had enough of those psychopaths to last him for a long time.

Angela tried to question his limp and the entire team had a look of concern when he finally came out of the hotel. He avoided every question they threw at him before pretending to fall asleep on the plane.

All Gabriel wanted was to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse my eccentric characters. I know they're all super weird.
> 
> Friendly reminder that Gabriel doesn't actually know who Hanzo is!
> 
> Quick thing; I will be adding a few extra chapters just to help develop the world and some of the other characters, don't worry they'll be accompanied by a normal update. But I would like to say, if you have any specific questions about a character, please ask me here or on my writing tumblr. It really helps me think about them and decide where to put them in the plot when you do that!
> 
> My character's designs (thank you inktober)  
> [ Stef Wantori ](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/post/166370311807/inktober-day-12-shattered-ft-stef-wantori-aka)  
> [ Solomon Wantori ](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/post/166117564112/inktober-day-6-sword-ft-solomon-wantori)  
> [ Jean Marquis](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/post/166523077167/inktober-day-17-graceful-ft-jean-marquis-aka-my)  
> [ Madison Maddox ](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/post/166487834917/inktober-day-14-fierce-ft-madison-maddox) for those of you who read Bamboo Skewers


	11. Oct 26 ???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider this a filler episode the next chapter will be more exciting and a lot longer.
> 
> tw: drug and alcohol use, mentioned suicide, mentioned physiological abuse (quick hitman programming discussion)

** October 26, 2076 - ??? - ??? **

The first thing Gabriel registered was that his bed is not usually this comfortable nor does it smell like after-shave and dog. Slowly he slid his arm across to the other side and was momentarily relieved that it was empty. Cracking his eyes open revealed unfamiliar flannel sheets and a mostly barren room.

Gabriel squeezed his eyes closed before sighing and pushing himself up from the bed, he winced as a pounding headache made itself known. It took him a while to get into standing position without falling over or throwing up.

As Gabe swayed next to the bed as he tried to stabilize and figure out what happened last night. The last thing he could remember was coming home from work and going to the liquor cabinet-

Oh… that would do it.

He groaned and started towards the door, his pants and sweatshirt were folded neatly on top of the dresser next to two picture frames that were lying face down. A look of disappointment crossed Gabriel’s face before he looked down to see that he was, in fact, still in his boxers, tank top, and…socks. That was not his most attractive look.

After a couple minutes of trying to remember how clothes worked, Gabriel managed to wrestle himself into last night’s outfit and glanced at the frames, they were only personal item besides the alarm clock that was visible but the fine layer of dust over them kept him from picking one up. He sighed, he’d probably be meeting the guy once he stepped out the door anyway.

Soft music was played just outside the door so it was a safe assumption that somebody was probably out there. Gabriel psyched himself up before easing the door open into a plain little hallway. He was thankful for the carpet dampening the sound of his steps as he made his way into the main livingroom. If he was lucky he’d make it all the way out the door without having to do the walk of shame.

Gabriel quietly crept into the livingroom and glanced around, all that was there was a large couch covered in blankets and the holoscreen playing a show in German with a countdown in bright pink numbers and an announcer going over the event.

With what little Gabe had learned of German from Angela and Reinhardt, he could just make out the words ‘live’ ‘game’ ‘music’ and D.VA.

His eyes widened as he turned to look out the terrace doors to a mini garden and a familiar office building. Horror raced down his spine just as something soft and dog-like leaned up against his legs.

‘ _Boof_ ’

Gabriel shrieked which didn’t seem to bother Lucy in the slightest. Time felt like it slowed down as Jack stepped through the archway to the kitchen with a looked of confusion contorting the thick scars that crossed his face. Gabriel froze when Jack finally let out a deep laugh and snapped his fingers for Lucy to come to him.

“I wasn’t sure if you were ever going to wake up,” Jack snickered as he stepped back into the kitchen, motioning for Gabriel to follow.

Gabriel hesitated and glanced at the clock before following Jack.

** 13:30 – Watchpoint Apartment A23 – Gibraltar, Wyoming **

The difference between the kitchen and the rest of the house was jarring. Unlike the obsessively clean rooms Gabriel had just been through, this one was a total disaster zone, it was almost reminiscent of some of the murder scenes he’d worked on in the past. Utensils were scattered haphazardly across the counters with different kinds of dried junk stuck to them while the sink and dishwasher were overflowing with dishes in various stages of being clean.

Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder if this was why Jack and Arashi fought so much when he looked up and saw a strange assortment of goo splatter across the cabinets and ceiling.

“Quite the place you got here,” Gabriel muttered.

Jack laughed as he went back to mixing whatever conglomeration was in his bowl, “Well, if I’d have known we’d have a guest over I might have tried to clean,” he said turning to give Gabriel a wink, “Hanzo was freaking out this morning trying to clean the bathroom before you woke up.”

Gabriel gave him a confused look as he bent down to retrieve a pan from under the counter, for a moment his mind went blank as he was given a perfect view of Jacks’ ass. It took him a second too long to answer and he found himself scrambling for something to say, “Who’s Hanzo?” ha asked lamely.

“My roommate,” Jack said, “You’ve met him, right?”

“The square Japanese guy that has to squeal his tires every time he leaves the parking lot?” Gabriel said earning a laugh, “We’ve met in the hall a couple times but the name I got was Arashi.”

The batter was unceremoniously dumped into the glass pan before Jack slid it into the oven, “I was wondering how far that would spread when he told me he panicked and told the lady downstairs that,” he said motioning to the thriving plant on top of the microwave, “He’s been coming into my warzone every other week just to stare at the aloe she gave him. Kind of cute but mostly sad.”

“Why wouldn’t he just take it to his room,” Gabriel crossed his arms, “It would save me having to listen to some of your shouting matches every night.”

Jack sighed and leaned again the stove, “He’s under the impression that he kills everything he’s put in charge of so he’s given it to me to take care of. He’s not wrong which is the sad part.”

“Hitman?”

“Okami:146, he was my partner before we got out,” Jack said as he set a timer, “He’s the one who practically dragged me out of the compound. Society got too balls-y with who they take and how much they process them. They figured a disgraced yakuza would go quietly, especially with as damaged as he was at the time.”

Gabriel made a face as the name clicked, “Hanzo Shimada? The guy who was supposed to take over Shimada motors after Sojiro Shimada died?” Jack nodded, “The reports said he attempted fratricide and then jumped off a bridge.”

Jack turned to him and nodded, “He did but the Society fished him out. According to them he was a ‘perfect template’. That’s how they get us; they induce trauma and form the broken edges.”

“Christ,” Gabriel swallowed hard. Heavy, uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a moment as he processed the information.

“So,” Jack said, loudly slapping his hands together and making both Gabriel and Lucy jump, “Lighter topic! You broke into our apartment very drunk last night!”

Gabriel inhaled sharply, “Sure did, what happened?”

“You came blazing in while we were high watching a terrible horror movie and Hanzo started laughing his ass off,” Jack said quickly before taking one arm and using it to sweep about six different utensils into the sink, “You were ranting about something that happened in Mexico before you suddenly got a weird look on your face and threw-up.”

Gabriel turned red and covered his face; now that he thought about it, he did vaguely remember talking loudly to his cats before deciding to find something that could respond. The vomiting was not a surprise, “Please don’t tell me I barfed on the carpet.”

“Actually, you didn’t,” Jack said trying to chip away some of the crud on the counter before hopping up to sit on it, “You bolted for the kitchen. I can’t say I have ever seen somebody that drunk have such good aim. Hanzo was even impressed.”

“I had too much practice in the military,” Gabriel groaned leaning against the counter next to Jack, “If anybody, especially an Amari, says you can do one more shot; you can’t.”

Jack laughed, “We weren’t allowed alcohol in my unit. We were always out in the middle of nowhere so getting drunk and wandering off was too big of a risk. I think the most fun we had was when Gerard found edibles in some random house and he decided it would be a good idea to eat them. Colfax ended up carrying him to the next check point and his wife chewed him out once we got back from that assignment.”

“Is that why you’re making weed brownies?” Gabriel teased, “Just for old time’s sake?”

“God no. I haven’t made those since I was like seventeen,” Jack said, smacking Gabriel on the shoulder, “My mom found out and I was nearly hanged.”

“Damn and here I was hoping to find some on my counter tomorrow. Maybe I would mellow enough to slow down how fast my hair is going gray.”

Jack smacked him again, “You’ve got like, three white streaks. I have two full sides you ass.”

“Gives you a distinguished old man look,” Gabriel barely managing to dodge the third strike, “Ok, ok, what was I ranting about last night.”

Jack leaning back into the overhead cabinet and hummed, “I think I caught something about Dr. Wantori, some bitch named Burciaga, and something about utility companies stealing our money. To be honest you kept slurring between languages so it was hard to understand. After you barfed we just left you on the floor until the movie was over.”

Gabriel snorted and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sounds about right,” he’d been pissed last night. Ana had called him at ten to tell him that LumériCo was threating to press charges for assaulting Mendoza, which was ridiculous because he didn’t do it and the company wasn’t even trying to fabricate evidence. They just wanted to waste their time, “It wasn’t a good night for me.”

“Stef said you’d be pissy when you got back,” Jack said, “She told be something about you being a drama queen the entire time she was around.”

“Pissy?” Gabriel said sharply, “She’s the one that kept disappearing and reappearing whenever she felt like it and then had the gall to speak in riddles!”

Jack cackled, “Sounds about right. And let me guess, she gave you that copy of Athena without telling you what to do with her, right?”

“How did-” Gabriel stuttered as he patted down his pockets. Jack smiled and pulled the memory stick out of his own pocket and handed it back.

“After you deal with her long enough you get used to it,” Jack shrugged, “Although it would have been nice if she’d talked to me beforehand about having me to go back to the Colorado Compound.”

“How do you know her?” Gabriel asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“She’s the one who developed my neural mods,” Jack shrugged, gently tapping his glasses, “I spent a couple months as a recovery experiment at HAI, they’re nice people. Weird but nice.”

Gabriel thought about it for a moment, it didn’t surprise him that they were trying to play with hitman minds, they were notorious for over-stepping human boundaries in subjects like that. A thought occurred to him as looked up at Jack, “What do you know about a hacker called Sombra?”

If Gabriel was being completely honest he was worried about them and not just because they caught a bullet in the side for him. If Stef and HAI could reprogram the human mind, what kind of damage could they do to the hacker? Judging by the mods he saw along their skull, there was a good chance they already have.

“The spunky mercenary in the black and purple outfit?” Jack said turning to look down at him, “She’s pretty cool, an absolute genius with tech too. I’ve only met her in passing a couple times in passing. She gets a little jumpy around people.”

“So, she doesn’t work for HAI?” Gabriel asked semi-relieved.

“Nope, she’s just an independent contractor that HAI has a lot of respect for,” Jack said, “They like to collect allies not slaves.”

Gabriel paused for a moment, “Are they trying to recruit me?”

“Most likely. If they sent Stef to help you all the way down in Dorado then they definitely like you,” Jack yawned, “They sent one of their security teams to get Hanzo and I and we were just down in Colorado.”

“Maybe they just wanted to make sure you were more secure,” Gabriel joked before literally facepalming at his own terrible pun.

Jack just laughed, it was cute the way his laugh was more of a wheeze then a sound. Gabriel couldn’t help but start chuckling along until the two of them had worked up into a state of hysterical laugher over nothing but the stupid sounds of the other’s confused laughter and Lucy’s sounds of confusion as she wove between the two.

“What are you doing?” Hanzo asked from the doorway having just got back from who knows where.

Jack tried to speak but a snort from Gabriel sent him back into his uncontrolled wheezing fit. Hanzo just rolled his eyes and rolled over the back of the couch, “You’ve got ten minutes till the show starts.”

“What’s the show?” Gabriel asked after they’d managed to calm down. He was leaning with his elbows on the counter for support.

“My daughter and her DJ friend have been putting on shows across Europe,” Jack coughed, “This is going to be the first televised one of the tour and I told her I’d watch.”

Gabriel paused and turned his head to where Jack was hunched over on the counter, “You’ve gotten in contact with her?”

“Yeah,” Jack swallowed, “It was an endeavor but we managed to meet in Korea a few months ago. She’s still shaken about what happened but we’re both trying. I think she’s just happy that I still remember her.”

Gabriel nodded, it was hard to loose somebody but sometimes it was harder to get part of them back and have your memory of them be different than reality, “Well I should get going then. Don’t want you to have to break a promise.” He said pushing off the counter and heading to the door.

“Oh Gabe,” Jack said just before he made it out the door, the hitman ran a hand through his own hair before giving Gabriel a funny look, “If you want me to make you ‘brownies’ later I can but you shouldn’t feel self-conscious about going gray,” he teased, “I like older men anyway.”

With that the door closed and Gabriel was left in the hall with his mouth hanging open. It took him a few minutes to finally get back to his apartment – trip on a bottle – and find his way to the couch. His face felt like it was on fire as Jack’s words echoed through his head. Where the hell did that come from?

Gloria made her way into his lap just as his phone began to ring. She meowed in annoyance as he leaned over to grab the device from the end table.

**5 missed calls from Police Mom Ana**

“Hold you fur on,” Gabriel grouched as he settled back into his position with Gloria in his lap, “Reyes here.”

“Gabriel Emanuel Reyes, where the hell have you been,” Ana said.

“I told you I was taking today off,” Gabriel leaned back and rolled his eyes.

“And I told you I’d keep you on call,” Ana spat, clearly annoyed, “We’re on the verge of a breakthrough, you can’t just disappear like that.”

Gabe sighed, “You’re right, I’m sorry. It was a rough night. What did you have for me?”

“We got another call from LumériCo this morning,” Ana said, her voice softening from the apology, “Angel Burciaga was found dead in his apartment this morning after his girlfriend filed a missing person’s report. He didn’t showed up to work the day your team left.”

“What happened?”

“They’re ruling it a suicide.”

That didn’t seem right to Gabriel, Burciaga had acted like he had plans he was going to enact in the future, suicide couldn’t have been his end game.

“Did they find any evidence of foul play?” Gabriel asked as he dug between the couch cushions to find his notebook. Their hitman could still be in Dorado.

“Supposedly, no,” Ana sighed, Gabriel could hear her rubbing her forehead, “They gave me a copy of the suicide note but that was all they found. No evidence of forced entry or a struggle.”

Gabriel hummed and started scribbling ideas down. It was a definite possibility it was their hitman. There had been no signs of a break-in at the last crime scene, whoever they were they had to look trust worthy enough to let in or maybe have an inside contact. Maybe Burciaga had even hired Mogwai but was double crossed.

“Gabriel, there’s more,” Ana said after a moment of furious writing, “Yolanda Mejia has gone missing as well. They have footage of her leaving the building but she didn’t make it home the on the same night.”

“Our hitman is still in Dorado,” Gabriel groaned as let his notebook slide onto the couch and covered his eyes with his elbow. Maybe he would be making it back to this grandparents for the Day of the Dead after all.

“And we don’t have clearance to go back, supposedly we blew the budget already this year for hitman activity,” Ana tapped her pencil against her desk hard enough for Gabriel to hear it clicking over the phone, “So if we want to go back it has to be out of our own pocket or we hold a bake sale.”

Gabe snorted, “So we have to solve this over skype is what you’re saying?”

“Pretty much,” Ana said.

“I love politics.”

“Right? Hold on Winston has something.”

Gabriel waited as Winston’s voice became barely audibly over the phone. Stef’s words came back to mind ‘information that would lead to the fall of empires’. What were they going to find?

“They have a hit on Mogwai,” Ana said suddenly, “It’s Chinese for ‘monster’ they also have a couple old cases of unexplained deaths along the northern border of China but only one had a card. No evidence of forced entry and little to no signs of a struggle. Gabe… the last case was the same week we lost Liao.”

Gabriel’s heart skipped, Liao had been hunting down reports of hitmen 75 and 79 in that area with a small team when he just vanished. The only evidence they’d ever found was a smear of his blood on the door of the building they’d been searching.

“Fuck,” he whispered as he twisted his fingers deep into Gloria’s fur. Old grief began to settle in his ribs as he and Ana shared a moment of silence, “So what do we do now?”

“I’ve contacted some officials in the area but we won’t be able to travel that far until our contact rolls over next year,” Ana sighed, “Mei has been helping Jamie recreate what they can with the information that we have but this hitman seems to be adept at cleaning up their own evidence.”

“Shit,” Gabriel groaned, “Our only lead and they’re a clean freak.”

“Maybe you should take some lessons,” she teased.

“Harsh, Amari, harsh,” Gabriel huffed, “I’ll try to scrounge up some leads night and tomorrow, ok? Maybe something will come up.”

“Are you, Senior Detective Reyes, suggesting we play a waiting game?” the amusement in her tone felt a little forced but it was better than the dread that loomed over them.

“Who knows, maybe it’ll play off for once.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, updates are moving to every other Thursday... probably... who really knows.


	12. April 24 Amelie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied
> 
> tw: injury, brainwashing, murder, implied romanticization of death
> 
> (You can get by without reading this chapter if you really don't want to deal with it. Next update is actually the plot again)

** April 24, 2058 **

The windchimes on the balcony rang through the house as Amelie made her way down to meet her mother’s newest guest. Evidently, he was the highly successful son of a General and most likely the next suitor her mother had picked out for her. It seemed that her mother wasn’t getting the hint that Amelie was very serious about her career in ballet and had no time for the silly men and women that were being paraded around her.

What was this anyway? The 1800s?

She sighed as she made her way down the stairs and froze with her hand firmly grasping the handrail. Her heart jumped and she scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion before relaxing into a look of mischief as she slowly and elegantly making her way to the dashing young man.

He turned from Mrs. Guillard and his eyes widened in awe at the Amelie practically danced down the remaining steps on her toes. But almost as quickly as it had arrived, the awed looked disappeared and the man pretended to smooth down an imaginary tutu and put on a ridiculous pout. Immediately she knew this one was different somehow, with a sly grin she made her way closer and greeted him.

Over the next few months they played a game of cat and mouse. Gerard would ask her to go to a gala and she would decline until the night of the event when she would show up in her fanciest dresses to take her place on his arm. Amelie would invite him for a stroll through the gardens in Versailles and he would feign disinterest only to meet her there with a picnic basket on hand. And so on and so forth.

It wasn’t a surprise when the wedding was set exactly a year from the day they’d met. What was a surprise is that they had actually invited each other to the event.

** May 3, 2060 **

“ _No, absolutely not,”_ Amelie growled from her vanity as she viciously yanked through another knot in her hair.

“ _Please, Ame, you must understand I have no choice in this_ ,” Gerard pleaded.

“ _Yes, you do,_ ” she said slamming her brush onto the table and swiveling her chair towards her husband. Grief was written across both their faces, “ _Gerard, please, you don’t need to go out there to fight those things.”_

Gerard sighed and kneeled before her to rest his chin in her lap, “ _I need to protect you, to protect our people. I couldn’t bear to face you while I let them be slaughter by the omnics._ ”

She tried to be mad, tried to hold her position but she knew in her heart that he was right. A single tear slid down her face as she ran her fingers through his hair, “ _Promise me you’ll come home safe.”_

** December 12, 2060 **

Amelie practically flew into Gerard’s arms as he stepped through the door. The past few months had felt more like years to her despite their constant communication and her own busy schedule.

Gerard laughed and spun her around in his arms before kissing her, “ _Miss me, love?_ ”

“ _More than anything,”_ she hummed.

“Now I feel like I’m intruding,” said a gravelly voice from behind them. Amelie looked over her husband’s shoulder to see a tall blond man standing in the doorway with a fluffy looking German shepherd at his feet. She laughed and bounced over to hug him.

“You looked bigger on camera,” she said, giggling as Jack hugged her hard enough to crack her back, “It’s nice to finally meet Gerard’s guardian angel.”

Gerard gave an indignant huff before wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging her away from Jack with a playful glare. Jack caught on and immediately dropped into a tackle stance with his dog barking and following suit, “Better watch it Gerard, I might try to steal her away.”

Amelie squealed as Gerard swept her up into a bridal carry and took off down one of the halls with Jack hot on their trail.

** July 8, 2061 **

“ _Gerard Francis Lacroix_ ,” Amelie barked into her computer screen as her husband looked away sheepishly. Jack, Mercedes, and John were all cackling madly in the background, “ _What on Earth possessed you to think that eating something from a random deserted house was a good idea?_ ”

Gerard rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously, “ _Well, you see I-”_

“ _Nope, no excuses, you silly man,”_ she interrupted, _“Do I need to have Jack put you on a leash like Ricky?”_

The German shepherd perked his head up at the mention of his name prompting another round of laughter from the tent.

“If your threatening him with a leash I do have an extra harness,” Jack said poking his head into the frame, his hair was disheveled but he looked no worse for wear. Gerard grabbed his chin and pushed him back out of frame as Amelie just laughed.

** January 30, 2062 **

Snow flurries swept by the window as Amelie sobbed in front of her screen were Jack tried to comfort her. His face was a jagged mess of shrapnel scratches and he looked ready to pass out at any second even as he tried to console her from thousands of miles away.

“Ame, he’s going to be fine. I know it,” he kept repeating but the lack of emotion in his tone and the emptiness in his faded eyes said otherwise.

The windchimes rang sadly from her window the heater kicked on, the light outside was dying. Amelie tucked into herself and the tacky stuffed bear Gerard had given her was mashed further into her chest as she let out another harsh sob.

“Bring him home safe Jack,” she whispered, “Please.”

** March 4, 2062 **

A soft breeze made its way through the open window, making the curtains dance and the chimes out in the gardens were audible over the. It was an nice day for early March but that made it all the more important.

Gerard was home safe again. Amelie sat tucked into his side in bed as he furiously typed out mission strategies to send to omnium cracker teams in several different countries. Every once in a while, she would throw in suggestions just to fluster him into rereading his papers five more times before he finally gave up for the day and leaned against his wife.

“ _You do enjoy making my life difficult, don’t you?”_ he teased, earning himself a giggle.

“ _Oh Gerard_ ,” she said with a content sigh before rearranging herself around his still-healing body, “ _Would you have me any other way?”_

He sighed and carefully wrapped an arm around Amelie to pull her tighter to him so he could kiss her, “ _Of course not.”_

** November 15, 2062 **

Amelie tied her hair back tighter once she managed to get to the roof and scramble to the edge with her grandfather’s sniper rifle. The sounds of omnic fire were getting closer to the chateau and the fires continued to grow higher.

Reports of a previously inactive omnium near Geneva had started popping up just as it came online under the control of a God program called Apophis. It had taken less than a day for omnics to make it to the outskirts of Annecy making Chateau Guillard one of the city’s first lines of defense. Soldiers were flooding the courtyards and the distant gunfire was getting louder as Amelie made her nest.

It’s been years since she’d used the sniper rifle but as she hefted the scope up to her face the years of training from her grandfather came back to her. She smiled and took aim as she remembered her parents’ complaints that a ballerina had no use for shooting and combat skills.

_Breathe in. Hold. Fire._

One Bastion down.

Two Scouts down.

Six Drones down.

Time ticked by slowly as Amelie picked off approaching omnics and covered the frontlines charging into the fray. During lulls, she would stand up with her rifle still held tight to her and dance across the roof to get blood flow back into her legs and to check on the fires raging around her.

Blood flowed down her arm as a bullet grazed an unprotected shoulder, Amelie hissed and wheeled around just in time to catch a Climber before it could finish its ascent and knock it back down the building. She clapped a hand over her newest wound and looked where the bodies of Omnics and soldiers lie mangled below to make sure the machine was actually offline before returning to her routine.

Gunfire wasn’t the best sound to dance to and yet it was almost calming to have the constant shots to ground her in the present as she swept across the roof. A smoking Drone flew close to the roof just as she started running into a powerful Grand Jete and inspiration hit. Amelie smiled and brought her rifle up to take aim before leaping as hard as she could manage. At the highest point of the jump she fired.

The sound of the drone exploding was a nice accent to her finishing moves before she took her position once more.

It took days before the French and Swiss forces finally took out the Omnium and went to work on the fires. Amelie perched on her roof, scanning the horizon for either possible threats or for a sign that it was over.

Another three days of watching went by before a UN helicopter flew over the horizon. Tears rolled down her soot stained face as the neared.

It was over.

They won.

** September 10, 2069 **

The dance studio was empty save for the Amelie and her apprentice finishing their extra routines for the day. In a little over a year she would be giving up her position as the Prima Ballerina and moving into a permanent teacher position for her ballet house but first she needed to make sure her prodigy was ready.

“ _Estelle_ ,” she said catching the attention of the younger woman, “ _Why don’t you head home for the evening?_ ”

Estelle grinned, “ _Getting too old to stay late, Madame Lacroix?_ ”

Amelie laughed and shooed her out of the studio, she was going to need to drop the attitude if she wanted to survive Madame Reneux. Her thoughts trailed off as her phone began to ring from the bench just across from her.

Amelie rolled her eyes when her husband’s name popped up on the screen before answering “ _Gerard, I told you I’d be home in-”_

_“Jack’s gone”_

“ _What?_ ” Amelie laughed as she bent down to change into her street shoes, “ _Did he sneak out on his security again? You know how much he hates being cooped up, even with Kim and Hana.”_

 _“No, Ame,”_ Gerard started, his voice was shaking, “ _He was- he was taken. They think it was The Society.”_

Amelie’s eyes widened, her phone slipped from her shoulder and hit the ground; shattering the screen. Gerard’s voice echoed in the studio as he frantically called her name.

Neither of them slept that night.

-

Jack reappeared six months later, the Lacroixs watch in distress as footage of their friend killing five people in Brazil plays on the news. Amelie clings to Gerard and sobs enough for the both of them.

Reports of missing veterans are listed nightly and Amelie fears for her husband.

** December 24, 2070 **

Gerard stood quietly on the stage as the police worked around him to clean up the bloodied bodies of the ballerina and security guard. His head was spinning as he tried to understand what had happened.

“Excuse me are you Mr. Lacroix?” one of the officers asked, snapping Gerard out of his own thoughts, “If you don’t mind I have a couple of questions for you,” the man rattled of a few easy yes-or-no questions before giving Gerard a concerned look, “Do you have any idea who could have wanted to take your wife?”

Gerard choked, his hands flying to his face as reality finally hit him and knocked a painful sob from his body, the officer grabbed him just as he started falling to his knees. The sudden flurry of activity was lost to Gerard as his screams echoed into the auditorium.

She was gone.

Amelie was gone.

** April 24, 2071 **

It was bittersweet, Amelie thought as she tossed the gun under the bed and started to strip out of her nightgown. The emotionally charged reunion with this man carried little weight now that he was dead.

Something inside her was screaming as she walked past the bloodied corpse of her former husband, thrashing and wailing as she pulled on her uniform that had been hidden away, and faded into sorrowful whispers as the balcony doors were pulled open.

The rusting windchimes Amelie had kept on the railing twinkle pitifully in the late-night breeze next to Widowmaker as she surveyed the yard for wandering security. When none came she stepped onto the railing and turned to look back into the bedroom.

The pleading whisper disappeared as Widow looked at Gerard’s body and felt nothing for the man. He was a target, an animal to be slaughtered, and yet…

“ _Your life was precious to me once and I hope that one day it can be precious again_ ,” she whispered before letting herself fall backwards off the roof with a few careful twists she slowed herself by using the ornaments on the walls before landing silently on the grass and sprinting towards the lake.

** June 13, 2072 **

Widowmaker watched the streets swarming with people as paramedics frantically tried to revive her target. She allowed a brief smile to flash across her face because she knew their efforts were futile.

“Beautiful work, as always,” came a gruff voice from behind her.

The spider sneered and looked back at the broad figure marching toward her, visor flashing in the afternoon sun. She stepped towards him and mechanically wrapped her arms around his neck.

The pair awkwardly embraced for a moment, all the feeling they knew that was once there was gone. This was yet another exercise in futility, but somehow it still felt right.

“One shot, one kill,” she stated as they turned back to the chaos of the city below, “Perhaps you should be taking notes, _mon soldat._ ”

** August 17, 2074 **

The last thing Widowmaker expected was to go flying off a building without her grappling hook and survive. She glared up at her impromptu rescuer as her visor pulled back.

“Same target?” she asked him.

Soldier nodded and set her back on her feet, “Do you want to tag team?”

“Does your employer need a body?” she asked snapping her sights back into place.

“Negative, just needs pictures and the target’s sidearm.”

“Perfect.”

The pair launched into battle with the target’s security detail. This one hadn’t skimped on the extra help. The team of five was covered in Helix logos and brandished special pistols. Widow watched in mild interest as 76 launched himself at the nearest guard and made a clean shot into their head. A hand on her shoulder forced her to turn but, unluckily for them, she managed to slide a knife from her belt and into her attacker’s gut.

She turned just in time to see 76 snap the last guard’s neck, “Perhaps I should bring you along more often,” she teased as they made their way into the building.

76 snorted, “Wouldn’t that be fun.”

** October 1, 2076 **

Widowmaker peered down her sights at her target. She could feel it somewhere in the remains in her long dead heart that this would be her last kill. The man was walking slowly with a dog secured tightly to his belt, he looked paranoid and kept glancing up to the roof tops.

“So sorry, _Jack_ ,” she whispered with not even a hint of remorse as she pulled the trigger. Much to her annoyance the other managed to sidestep the shot before sprinting out of her line of sight.

“Guess the whole one shot, one kill thing was bogus, ay Amelie?” he called. She scanned the alleyway and street but saw nothing.

“Only when it comes to you, Jack,” she said back, the wind sweeping away her words, “You always were an outlier.”

The sound of boots scraping rock had the sniper spinning back down to the alley just as 76 finished scaling the second story. She unlatched her grappling hook and took aim at him with intentions to knock him from the wall. Little to her surprise he managed to dodge once more and take hold of the rope.

The rest was a blur of sound and movement for her once her skull made contact with the pavement. She could just barely make out the pain on Jack’s face as he picked up her rifle. A smile made its way across her face when she realized this was it for her.

The ensuing battle couldn’t really be called a battle at all. Widowmaker put up a weak fight at best as Jack went into a blind rage and struck her blow after blow. His words seemed to run together as the streetlight begin to blur. It isn’t until she’s on the ground that she fully realizes what’s happening.

Above her is Jack, sobbing as he clutches her broken body closer to him. Widow thinks she feels remorse but as everything starts to fade one thing comes to mind.

Amelie is going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos are nice but comments are what motivates me to write the actual plot line.... which is being very difficult right now.


	13. Oct 29 06:30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm garbage, please just take this weeny baby transitional chapter. I keep promising plot but I have so little time and motivation to write right now ;o; all my breaks and weekends are spent working or napping.
> 
> I swear to everything holy I will get that major chapter out if it kills me. (it might, there is so much that needs to happen to move the story where I need it to go)

** October 29, 2076 – 06:30 **

Gabriel was typically a forgiving man, he’d been in a few rough spots over the years and knew that things just happen sometimes, but having his phone go off three inches from his head before sunrise was grounds for murder. It took the brave detective a few seconds to understand why he was laying on the floor with a screaming rectangle held to his face before mustering the brain power to answer the call.

“Yes, Ana,” he grumbled, crawling back up onto the bed and trying his best to find the warm spot.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she sang, “I’ve got a big surprise for you.”

“Unless it’s a week of paid time off, I’m not interested.”

“How about a short vacation to the mountains then?”

“You have my attention.”

She snorted, papers flipped in the background as she shuffled through what Gabriel could only assume were new reports, “They found Mejia last night. Her body was dumped in the garbage behind LumériCo’s corporate office by sanitation workers. The autopsy concluded a broken neck as the cause of death.”

“And where is my trip to the mountains?”

“Well. You know that saying, ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’?” Ana said, “turns out the gift was in her mouth after all. Coroner found a letter shoved down her throat post mortem, it was signed by 54 and everything. Gave us a nice dissertation on how much Mejia failed as a human being and ended with a nice set of coordinates to a previously suspected compound spot in the Rockies.”

Gabriel sat back up to crack his neck, “Is that the spot where Jamie was almost attacked by a bear? I thought we cleared that one.”

“We were a couple miles off evidently.”

“So how and when are we going?” Gabriel asked as he slid back off his bed to start digging through his closet. Luckily, his suitcase was still half packed from Mexico and just needed to be restocked with clean underwear.

“Jamie has volunteered ‘the van’ again,” Ana chuckled, “And Angela is driving the coroner truck down with Winston and I.”

“I am not getting into Fawkes’s death trap again,” Gabriel snapped, “I’d rather walk after that last ‘mishap’.”

“I don’t blame you but unless you want to try to take that cardboard box you call a car, you’re out of luck.”

Gabriel passed to mull it over before smacking his forehead, duh, he was taking a guest, “I think I have an idea, I’ll meet you at the station in a couple hours, ok?”

“Sounds good, see you there.”

\--

Being up before the sun wasn’t the worst thing but it still sucked. Gabriel yawned and cracked his jaw as he made his way down the hall, at least forcing another person awake would make him feel a little better.

Gabriel eyed the newly painted door to A23 before shaking his head and knocking. Japanese dragons and western horses where certainly a weird combination but who was he to judge. It only took a moment before the door swung open to reveal an oddly awake and dressed Jack holding a mug of what looked suspiciously like spaghetti sauce.

“What are you eating?”

Jack tilted his head and looked down at the mug, “Spaghetti- Os and,” he mumbled poking around with his spoon, “I think there’s mini ravioli somewhere in here too.”

“At 7:30 in the morning?” Gabriel said in mild disgust.

Jack crinkled his eyebrows and turned back into his apartment to glance at the clock, “Huh, would you look at that,” he said in mild surprise, “So what are you doing here? You don’t usually get up this early.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that you know my sleeping schedule,” Gabriel said with a grimace as Jack took another bite of his morning Chef Boyardee, “We got the coordinates for the Society compound in Colorado and we’re heading out in less than an hour.”

Jack raised an eyebrow and stepped back, “Whelp, have fun,” he said before kicking the door closed and retreating backwards into his home.

“Hey, get back here!” Gabriel sputtered as he caught the door and lunged for the hitman, “You’re going too, asshole. I need your help with Athena.”

“You know what? I’m good here,” Jack said as he tried to escape the detectives grip on his arm, “No really. How about you just call me when you get there?”

“Jack…”

He strained against Gabriel again before dropping to the floor, taking the detective with him. The mug of mystery sauce hit the carpet with a soft thump next to them, leaving a nasty red splatter that would stain later. Lucy was quick to shoot out of the hall and start nosing at Jack.

Gabriel slide off of him and sighed, “Listen, I know this sucks but I really need your help with this. Even if you don’t want to go in I do need you on standby at least. You are the only person I know with so much experience with the Society. And I’m not counting on Hanzo to help.”

“And what can I do?” Jack growled, his whole body was shaking, “I barely remember the place, I didn’t even know how long I was in the Society until HAI told me much less how long I was station in Colorado.”

“Even so, you still have more working knowledge about compound than us. You can at least help us determine the difference between the cafeteria and the torture rooms.”

Jack snorted, “Gabriel, all I got to see and _remember_ was the hanger, my room, and what they tried to call the ‘medical room’. The rest of it is a blur of screaming and darkness.”

“What about when you escaped? You had to have been lucid enough to know where you were.”

Slowly, Jack rolled onto his back to look up at Gabriel, his eyes were pained, “I don’t want to go back there.”

Something in Gabriel broke at the softness of those words, slowly he move his arm to the other side of Jack so he was face to face with him, “Two years ago, I lost my daughter,” he started, the words catching in his throat, “She was taken from me by a gang that didn’t like her leaving LA. I couldn’t barely enter my own apartment for six months because every time I walked in I expected to see her at the table, laughing and asking me when dinner would be ready.”

“Gabe...”

“The first time I went into here room I broke down sobbing on her bed. I was so convinced that I wouldn’t ever go back in there after that but then Short managed to get in. Jack, if I hadn’t have gone back in, do you know what wouldn’t have happened?”

“What?” he said tentatively.

“I wouldn’t have found the lead she left us. It took us only two days to hunt down the gang and permanently shut them down before they could hurt anybody else’s kid. I’m not asking you to be a peppy tour guide, Jack, I’m asking you to help us stop these people before they can destroy more lives.”

Lucy’s collar jingling was the only sound in the room as the two men stared at each other. Gabriel’s chest ached as old regrets were brought to the surface.

“Yeah, ok,” Jack finally said, “I’ll go on your trip back to hell, but we’re taking my truck.”

“Oh thank god,” Gabriel wheezed before collapsing on Jack’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no control over these people.
> 
> Your guys' support last chapter was so sweet it makes me want to cry. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy... or maybe it's the fumes... I dunno man
> 
> I do need your help though, please tell me your ideas about the characters and who you'd like to see more of. Do you want to see Mei chug a gallon of hot tea and run a lap around the police department? Or maybe Winston finding Angela passed out on an autopsy table? Maybe Gabriel trying to steal Ana's comfy chair from her office for back support purposes. Stupid ideas are gr8. Give me your headcannons *grabby hands*


	14. Oct 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy, I'm not dead!
> 
> Winter break means I can make coherent chapters again because I passed my classes and didn't die.

“No,” Gabriel stated as Jack lead him up to an enormous blue pickup. How he’d never noticed the monstrosity parked in the corner of the complex’s parking lot over the last few month’s was beyond him.

Jack turned to fix him with an unamused look before tossing his bag in the backseat and loading Lucy in, “This was our deal so unless you want to ride on the roof I’d suggest getting in.”

There was a moment of silent staring before Gabriel threw his free arm in the air and walked around to stash his own bags. As he secured his luggage on the floor of the cab he noticed a pair of heavy duty chests tucked under the bench and paused. He could feel Jack watching him in amusement as he tugged on one of the handles and frowned at the weight.

“Military grade pulse rifle with Helix rocket upgrades,” Jack laughed as Gabriel paled, “The other box has the rest of my kit as well.”

“Oh good, I’m riding in a murder mobile,” Gabriel grumped as he slammed the back door closed and climbed into the front seat, “Anything else I should know about your mini tank.”

“Well,” Jack drawled as he turned the ignition switch, Gabriel tensed as the truck started quietly before taking on a distinct diesel rumble, “Ethel does have some pretty serious mods on board. For starters, she can either run on friction tires or fold up and run on hover studs so I can take the express lane on the highway. She also has exhaust dampeners and modifiers.”

“Wow, what does this thing even run on?”

“She’s electric.”

Gabriel looked at him in disbelief as Jack popped it into first gear and started pulling out of the lot, “There is no way, you don’t even have enough room in here for the batteries.”

“They’re in the back against the cab, that’s why the box is so long,” Jack explained, “The only thing I’ve ever driven that operated on fossil fuel was my grandpa’s old Harley. My parents had enough money that we could afford the nice eco-friendly stuff, even our house and the farm had solar panels and turbines.”

“Must have been nice; clean air, clean energy,” Gabe hummed, “Back in LA, most the of the cars were the older ones that ran on both electric and gas. The city keeps putting more money into the filters just to keep the air decent.”

“Yikes.”

“I definitely don’t miss checking the air quality before leaving the house every morning, that may be one of the few perks of moving to Wyoming.”

“I was wondering about that. I was stationed in LA just before shipping over to Korea and it was the worst base I’d ever been on. I had a headache every day just from the air pollution. How that hell did you live past the age of four?” Jack whined before honking at an old lady parked at a green light.

“You get used to it and you wear a mask on the bad days,” Gabriel laughed as the lady in front of them realized her mistake and began to slowly accelerate, “How did you stand the smell of literal shit at night out in farmland? When I was out there for one of our cases the town smelled like a huge feed lot in the evening.”

“We actually lived in Bloomington city limits so we were pretty far from any farms with animals. Our family farm was actually the next county over and we didn’t keep anything but chickens and guineas,” Jack said, “If anything, Bloomington just smelled like weed at night, especially after they started getting serious about cracking down on the meth problem.”

“I think the weed smell is universal,” Gabriel cackled as they turned into the parking lot for the police department.

Angela and Lena were leaning against Ana’s car talking before they turned to gawk at the massive truck. Jack snickered as he pulled up next to the sketchiest van either had ever had the misfortune of seeing before switching off the truck and giving Gabriel a nervous look.

The detective gently brushed his fingers over Jack’s arm, “I won’t let them do anything,” Gabriel reassured, “Just wait here, ok?”

Jack gave him a slow nod and relaxed slightly as Gabriel popped the door open and climbed out. The door the department office swung open as soon as his feet hit the ground to reveal both Ana and Satya walking toward him, the latter with a cardboard mug of coffee for him.

He smiled and accepted the coffee for the secretary before swinging his arm around her shoulders for a one-armed hug. Satya leaned into it slightly before straightening up and heading back into the office.

Ana smiled before turning to appraise the truck behind them, “Nice ride, didn’t know you could drive anything bigger than a peddle car.”

“Thanks,” Gabriel said, giving her a sour face, “Are we waiting on anyone else or was it just me?”

“Just you, Winston called out with a nasty stomach bug so I’m taking his spot,” she said, motioning to the scattered group, “We’re going to be taking Jamie’s van and my car…. and your truck I guess?”

“Yeah, about that,” Gabriel said, “I need you to trust me on something today.”

Ana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, “What’s up?”

“I’m bringing somebody who can help us, he’s actually the one driving. I just need you to trust me-”

“Oi!” Jamison screeched as he pumped up onto the roof of his van, “You can bring people but I can’t?”

“Ooo, Gabe’s bringing a friend!” Lena shouted causing the rest of the team to begin wandering up to their superiors.

“Who is it?”

“Is it Jesse’s mum?”

“I bet it’s Pedro!”

“Hey,” Gabriel barked as he grabbed Lena before she could get any closer to the truck, “Everybody take a big step back!”

Confusion ran through the group even as they backed up. Mei, however, circled the group and grabbed the handle to the door before Gabriel had a chance to react.

“I think I know who it is,” she said cheerily before opening the door to reveal a very nervous Jack with Lucy sitting across his lap and the console, “Hello, Soldier:76! I was wondering when you’d show up,” Mei said as she offered her biggest smile.

Something unreadable crossed Jack’s face before he gave her a slow wave and fixed Gabriel with a conflicted look. Lucy wiggled in his lap and leaned across to sniff Mei’s outstretched hand.

A moment of shocked silence passed before Mei stepped back and Lena shrieked. Both Angela and Ana had their guns drawn and aimed before Gabriel had a chance to even process what Mei had done.

“Gabriel, what the **fuck** is going on?” Ana spit, her eyes never leaving Jack.

He thought a moment before sighing, “Honestly, at this point I don’t even know.”

Jack scoffed, “Real helpful, asshole. I’m not sure if you know this but I am not a fan of being shot.”

“Oh, and I am?”

Lucy barked as Jack’s eye dulled and fixed Gabriel with a dead glare, “You want to do this right now?”

“Maybe I do,” Reyes growled (he really didn’t).

“I don’t know about everybody else here, but I’m confused,” Lena announced after a long pause, “Are we supposed to shoot him or not?”

“Preferably not,” Gabriel sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Angela gave him an incredulous look, “You’re joking.”

“Angela, step back please,” Ana said, holstering her weapon as she stepped towards Gabriel, “Are you armed?”

Gabriel blinked in confusion, “Yeah?”

“Chief, I don’t see how this-”

“Ms. Zeigler, please stand down,” Ana barked, her eyes never breaking from Gabriel’s.

The coroner gave the pair another hesitant look before Lena took her arm and lead her back to the rest of the team. Gabriel watched them go before locking eyes with Ana.

She took a deep breath and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” he replied, “Ana there is so much left we don’t know but something is telling me we’re so close to this being over. Jack is safe.”

“I trust you,” Ana said, she lingered a moment before turning to the team, “Alright, everybody load up, we don’t have any more time to waste.”

A slight protest went through the group but they began to load into their respective vehicles when it became apparent that they would not be heard. Ana shot him a weary glance before closing her car door and pulling out with Jamie close behind.

A touch of guilt jolted through Gabriel as he buckled in and glanced over at Jack who was dead quiet as he followed the group. After a moment of silence Gabriel turned to glare out at the town before they got onto the interstate.

Flat fields of dead foliage and the odd herd of cattle flashed by as Gabriel tried to clear his head. It wasn’t until the sensation of something brushing his arm that he realized almost an hour had passed. He glanced over at Jack who was giving him a concerned smile.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said, “I didn’t mean for them to find out like this. I was hoping- actually I don’t even know what I hoping for.”

“There’s hardly anything you could have done,” Jack snorted, “Unless you staged that woman opening the door, you’ve done nothing wrong.”

Gabriel looked at him in disbelief, “Jack, they could have shot you.”

“And what would have happened if we waited until we were in Colorado? Do you think they’d be more receptive if they were meeting me outside a Society compound? It could have been so much worse,” Jack said, “Gabe, you’re not a naïve idiot, you wouldn’t have made me come if you didn’t think I’d be safe with your team.”

“And what if I had been wrong?”

“You weren’t,” Jack said, his tone hard, “They trust you, Gabriel. If they can trust you to bring me along than I can trust you not to let them kill me.”

Clouds rolled over the suns, creating patterns in the shadows on the fields as Gabriel tried to process Jack’s words. Warmth settled into his chest at the notion that his team trust him so deeply. He glanced down at his feet as another thought hit him.

What had he done to earn Jack’s trust?

_“You care too much,” Andre sighed as he leaned against the wall._

_Gabriel frowned and tightened his grip on the little girl’s hand, she still hadn’t woken up from surgery but he was determined to be there when she did. It was the least he could do after what had happened last night. It wouldn’t even surprise him if he was the only person who knew she existed._

_Andre huffed as he pushed off the wall and draped himself over the officer’s shoulders, “So do I need to go pick up the adoption papers or…”_

_“Jasper and Kennedy are dropping them off tomorrow.”_

_Andre laughed, “Predictable as always, Gabe. I think we need to get your chest x-rayed to make sure there’s enough room left in your ribcage for your heart.”_

_“Shouldn’t you go home and go to bed,” Gabriel grumbled, “You have to work tomorrow morning.”_

_“Pfft, since when has that ever stopped me,” Andre scoffed as he grabbed another chair and sat next to his husband. He let a few minutes tick by before grabbing Gabriel’s chin, “Gabi, look at me. You don’t have to do this alone, I’m here for you.”_

_“You don’t have to be, this was my fault and I-”_

_“No, it’s not. Gabriel, there is no possible way you could have seen this coming. No one could have,” he reassures, “You did your best, that’s all they could have asked for- hell, that’s more than they could have hoped for.”_

_“But if had been just a little faster…”_

_“Gabriel, you’re only human.”_

_“Tell that to her,” Gabriel snapped, “you’re not the one who has to tell her that her entire family is gone. You don’t have to be the one to answer all of her questions and tell her that nothing could be done. Everyone that loved her is gone, Andre!”_

_“But Gabriel, **you’re not**.”_

The usual emptiness that had haunted that memory for years was now replaced with long-lost echoes of love and understanding. It still hurt but it gave him another outlook on his life.

Gabriel glanced back over to Jack before slowly sliding his arm across the console. He hesitated before slowly tracing the lines of Jack’s arm to his wrist and carefully sliding his fingers between Jack’s on the shifter.

The other man tensed and looked down at their hands wild-eyed before jerked his arm up and flipping his hand over. Rejection and embarrassment stung Gabriel as he started to pull his arm back only to find that Jack was trying to lace their fingers together. He almost laughed at how red Jack’s face had become as their arms settled on the center console.

A goofy smile grew on Gabriel’s face as he leaned back and watched the mountains slowly come into view from over the horizon.

_“You did your best- that’s all they could have asked for.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have almost cried while writing this because I am a huge baby.


	15. Oct 29 10:30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was longer than two weeeeeekkkkssss
> 
> Warning: Graphic descriptions of gore, human neglect/experimentation, Please check the tags if you are sensitive ;n;

** October 29, 2076 – 10:30 – Society Compound – Rocky Mountains **

The mountains were beautiful this time of year. The trees that clung to the slopes draped the landscape in hues of orange and red with the odd patch of early snowfall.

Gabriel had never cared for the cold of the mountains but driving through them with his hand intertwined with a much warmer body almost had him changing his mind.

The roads grew rougher the further they climbed into the mountains and soon the concrete turned to gravel and then dirt as they came into view of their destination.

Jack’s fingers tensed and curled tighter, digging his fingernails into the back of Gabriel’s hand while the latter looked at the building in frustration and disbelief. Sharp corners and elegant edges of the Vishkar office building offset the natural curves of the forestry behind it.

“We’ve been here before,” Gabriel growled as he flung his door open and stormed over to Ana’s car.

She turned and stabbed a finger at the building, “Where have we seen this?” she demanded, her hand shaking in anger.

“Brazil, three years ago,” Gabriel spat, “We got a tip that 98 had been seen going into a Vishkar development building. We were never given enough evidence to get a search warrant.”

“Bastards,” Ana spit on the ground in disgust before turning to the rest of the team who all shared a similar look of anger, “I want everyone in full uniform; bullet vests, tracker, coms, and side arms. Test your specialist gear before you go in, I don’t want anybody caught unprepared!”

Jamison and Mei wasted no time in opening the back of the van to start distributing their standard equipment while Ana popped her trunk and began assembling her sniper rifle.

Gabriel jogged back to the truck with his vest to find Jack already hooking up his visor framework to the sensors in his 76 jacket. He hesitated a moment before leaning over to look into the cab to see Lucy panting in excitement with a K-9 vest on board.

“Hey, Jack?”

“Hmm?”

Gabriel paused to consider his question, “I-is Lucy wearing… is she wearing doggles?”

“Yes?” Jack said before narrowing his eyes, “Do you have a problem with my dog’s fashion choices?”

For a moment, his anger lifted and Gabriel laughed, “Nope, just jealous that I don’t get a pair.”

Jack rolled his eyes and popped the latches of his ammo box to assemble his rifle. Gabriel chuckled before leaning over to begin buckling his heavy boots and slip on his holsters.

“Maybe I’ll see if Lena has an extra pair,” he joked as he stood up to see Jack holding the biggest pulse rifle he’d ever seen. It wasn’t Zarya’s military grade particle cannon she’d shown everyone pictures of but it was easily the biggest gun he’d ever seen anyone wield outside of the Crisis.

“Is that a new model?” Gabriel asked lamely as Jack popped in an ammo cartridge.

“Yup,” Jack nodded, “took it off one off the last guy that tried to kill me, luckily he couldn’t handle the recoil and shot wide. Had one of the guys at HAI upgrade it and give it a new paintjob.”

“Fancy…” Gabriel said, swallowing hard.

“Gabriel! Are you two ready yet?” Ana called. The rest of the team was standing around her in an odd mix of gear. Gabriel gave her a ‘one minute gesture’ as he rooted around his gear bag to pull out a pair of evidence collection belts and threw one to Jack.

“In case you find a cool rock or something,” he said before jogging over to the group.

Ana gave the pair a once over before nodding and opening her mouth to say something when Mei interrupted.

“So cool!” she exclaimed, bouncing up to Jack, “Your equipment is so flashy! How did you never get caught?”

“Uh, Mei?” Gabriel said, catching the startled look in Jack’s eyes as the scientist began talking.

“I’ve been dying to ask; how did you manage to escape? Compounds are supposed to be like mazes inside, right? Did you have help? You had to!”

“Mei?”

“Batch seven was highly experimental, right? Is that how you managed to break conditioning? Did they forget to dose you the night you got out?”

“Mei.”

Jack held a hand up to Gabriel and leaned closer to Mei who was practically glowing from excitement. The look that had flashed across his face last time was back. It looked like curiosity and…. Recognition?

“Dr. Zhou?”

Mei stopped and gave him a bewildered look. The entire group looked at Jack wide-eyed as a smile slowly grew across his face.

“You worked in Mongolia during the Crisis, right?” he asked, “At the weather station near the Russian border? I think it was called the Eco-Point.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jamison sputtered, waving his arms around, “You two know each other?”

“His squadron escorted us to and from the nearby village for supply pick-ups for a couple weeks before being transferred,” Mei said, “The UN liked to use bases like ours as a rest point for active units being sent between warzones.”

“We’d watch ‘I Love Lucy’ in the evening because her team didn’t understand my dog’s name and the references I made all the time,” Jack continued.

“To be fair, it was very confusing when you and John wandered around the base and saying things like ‘ _He's put his foot down so many times, I feel like I'm married to a Cuban centipede’_ about Captain Lacroix _._ What does that even mean?” she said, before adding softly, “I thought he was French.”

“That’s…. really cute actually,” Lena said.

Angela gave her a look before Ana stepped up and cleared her throat, “As nice as this little reunion is, we still have a mission to complete. Is everyone ready?”

Everyone nodded, she gave Jack a once over before saying, “I want you to lead us in, you have the most working knowledge on this place and you’re fast. I’m trusting you on this, understand?”

Jack squared his shoulders and nodded, “Yes, miss.”

Ana gave him a wry smile before turning to Gabriel, “I want you and Lena up front for offense in case anything gets by you boyfriend here.”

Gabriel sputtered and turned red as Jack cackled next to him, “He’s- don’t- I’m not- We’re not-!”

“Jamie and Mei, I want you on defense behind these two and Angela, you’re tagging on the rear with me. If you see or hear anything report it. Any questions?”

Lena flung her hand up in the air, “Do you want me in the vents if we come across any?”

“Good idea,” Ana said and turned to Jack, “Whenever you’re ready, Sergeant.”

Jack gave her a crooked smile before snapping his visor into place and taking off into the building with Lucy close on his heels.

Gabriel watched as the hitman disappeared before leading the rest of the group in after him.

The first thing he noticed in the entrance was that the lobby was a complete copy of the one in Brazil, even the artwork on the walls were the same. He caught Ana cursing under her breath from the rear as they worked their way the archway just behind the receptionist’s desk.

The carpeting dead-ended into concrete that took over the walls and ceiling with nothing but dim flood lights and the remnants of daylight from the lobby to light it. Heavy, echoing footsteps from Jack a few yards up ahead were the only sounds in the building.

They were about a hundred feet into the hall when the first turn-off appeared.

“I don’t like this,” Jamison mumbled as his flashlight slid across dark scorch marks high on the walls.

A mumbled of agreement went through the group. Gabriel sighed and stepped into the carpeted room to find what looked like an office covered in thick layers of dust and soot. Angela sneezed violently as he ran a hand across the charred scraps of paper on the cabinet next to him and sent flurries of sediment into the air.

“Jack?” Gabriel called, a rustled catching his attention from the far corner. He breathed a sigh of relief when a red glow appeared from under a desk.

“Everything’s been destroyed,” Jack said, stepping carefully around the wires that littered the floor, “Even the filing cabinets have been cleaned out.”

“I don’t see any terminals here either,” Mei added as she inspected the hookups that were left on the desks, “They didn’t want us to get any useful information out of here.”

“But how did they know we were coming so soon?” Lena asked, “Even if they intercepted the news about Mejia’s body and the note yesterday, the dust means they were out of here weeks ago.”

“Someone else found them,” Jack growled as he headed back into the corridor.

Ana and Gabriel shared a look of concern until Lena nearly fell of of the filing cabinet she’d managed to scale.

“Found a vent!” she exclaimed, taking the cover off and inspecting the inside, “Nice and wide too! You want me up above?”

“Yes,” Ana replied, “but be careful and keep you’re radio on.”

“Aye-aye, captain!” Lena said before disappearing into the duct.

Gabriel looked back to Ana again before leading the rest down the hall to follow Jack’s distant footfalls. As they went deeper, the smell of decay began to grow and the flood lights were no longer active, leaving the team in the dark.

Turn off’s like the office were far and few between until they came to a major intersection of corridors. Wide lines of yellow paint marked the hall they were in while the intersecting hall was marked with white and at the end of their hall was a huge puddle with Jack’s footprints continuing up the yellow hall.

Gabriel screwed up his nose and took a tentative step into the puddle only to recoil when the smell hit him. He turned his head away and took another step into the goo to find that whatever it was had a viscous consistency and made the floor incredibly slick despite the grip of his boots.

He continued with his team watching until he stepped on something…squishy?

“Can I get some light?” Gabriel said, before gagging violently as the sudden concentration of light turned the puddle a reddish-brown and revealed the gelatinous chunks of skeleton under him.

“ _My God_ ,” Angela hissed from behind him as she knelt down to inspect the remains, “There has to be at least two, if not three sets of remains here.”

Gabriel weighed his options as his team shifted uncomfortably behind him before noticing that Lucy’s foot prints were missing on the other side.

“Ang,” he said, carefully turning and holding his arms out to the coroner, “Do you trust me?”

Angela gave him a wild look before nodding and coming as close to the edge as she could. It took a moment of maneuvering before she was safely wrapped in his arms and standing on his boots. They took a moment to balance before she pumped off and landed on the other side.

“Ana?”

“You drop me and you’re toast, Reyes,” she grumbled even as she jumped into his arms without hesitation.

The urge to pretend to drop her came across the detective but he decided against it as she gently kicked of his boots and landed next to Angela. It only took him a minute to clear Mei and Jamison before they helped drag him out of the pond of horrors.

Angela knelt back down to inspect the puddle again, “What happened here?” she mumbled, fishing a plastic badge out of the remains and handing it off to Ana.

“Security guards,” she said, confusion crossing her face as she wiped the security badge clean, “Why would they dispose of security guards?”

“Loose information?” Mei suggested, glancing up the hall in alarm as gunshots suddenly began to echo against the concrete.

Gabriel grabbed his shotguns just as Jack skidded around the corner and turned to fire behind him. The hot blue of his pulse munitions was offset by sudden greenish burst of energy shots coming from behind him.

“Run!” he screamed, the modifiers in his mask crackling in distress as Lucy shot off in front of him towards the investigators.

A small figure slid around the corner after him and bolted at terrifying speeds to engage him. Gabriel caught a flash of metal as the attacker swung down to try and knock the rifle out of Jack’s hands.

“Oxton!” Ana cried out into her headset as their group readied themselves for the attack, “Oxton, do you read? We have a situation, you need to get out if you-”

Gabriel looked back as Ana collapsed under debris that was now coming from the ceiling. Jack was sprinting at them with the unknown attacker hot on his heels and firing at the ceiling with the intent to make it collapse.

Gabriel had no time to react as Jack grabbed him and Angela by their vests and flung them down the orange hall to the right while Jamison and Mei dragged Ana down the hall to the left just as the ceiling fully collapsed and blocked their attacker.

“Jamison! Mei! Do you read?” Gabriel shouted into his radio, the feedback was horrendous, “Mei?”

“We- w-‘re- fin-,” came a crackling voice, “Am-r- dow- but -k”

“Stay put,” Gabriel said, “We’ll try to come to you. Lena, are you out there?”

Nothing.

The detective cussed at the radio as it hissed and popped before going dead. He turned to Jack who was busy checking over Angela’s arm, much to her dismay.

“Who the fuck was that?” he said, pacing back and forth in front of the rubble, “I thought they abandoned this place?”

“Teagan Jackson aka. Eros: 209,” Jack said, “She’s a newer recruit; very good at distractions and hand-to-hand.”

“Shit, we need to get to the others… Do these halls connect?”

Jack looked over at him and shrugged, his visor flashed before projecting a low-resolution map onto the wall showing part of the absolute clusterfuck that was the compound.

“I have no idea what to do with this,” Gabriel said, rubbing the bridge of his nose after scanning the map for a couple minutes.

“I think I have an idea,” Angela said, sliding up against the wall with the help of her staff and pointing at the map, “We’re here-ish and the they are probably about here.”

Pins popped up under her fingers as Jack began mapping a long and winding route between the two locations. Gabriel furrowed his brow and sighed before looking around their hall.

“What about the vents? Lena was able to get up their maybe we can-”

“Gabe,” Jack interrupted, “Look up, the grates are welded shut and the ducts are going to be too small for even Angela.”

“Jamie… what about his demo gear?”

Angela thought about it for a moment and inspected the walls before shaking her head, “The space is too tight and we wouldn’t want to risk the ceiling caving in anymore. Not to mention I lost my radio in the debris,”

Jack turned down the hall as the two continued to mull over their options before bumping his shoulder against Gabe’s, “We better get walking,” he said before adding more softly, “They’re going to be fine.”

Gabriel nodded and re-holstered one of his shotguns before their little group began their trek. Lucy wove her way around the group for a few feet before settling at Jack’s side.

The further they went into the compound the worse the smell of decay became. Puddles of goo seeped out from under the identical wooden doors that suddenly lined the halls, making the walls slick from the humidity.

Angela kept muttering under her breath every time they encountered a door that was set ajar but never dared to inspect it. Something about the way she’d drift to the opposite side of the hall made Gabriel think that this was something she’d seen something similar before.

Soon intersections in the hall began to pop up again, but this time they were labeled with signs that said thing like ‘Processing Area 3: Clearance level 6 needed’ and ‘Special Containment Rooms 6-12’. Jack would tense as they passed those halls until they finally came to their turn.

‘Extraction Labs 1-8: Clearance level 4 needed to proceed’

“We should, uh-” Jack said as they began turning into the white hall, “We may want to run through this part. It… it isn’t pretty.”

“No,” Angela replied, “I want to know.”

Gabriel gave her a stern look before hooking his arm with hers and pulling her closer. Something told him that neither of them were ready for what lay ahead.

Unlike the hall they’d been walking down, this one was lined with reinforced glass doors they stood far apart but were made to face into the one adjacent from them. Gore obscured most of the glass but as they neared the end of the block one room remained clear.

Against his better judgement, Gabriel stopped to shine his flashlight inside. Jack hustled around the corner with Lucy as the investigators looked on in horror.

The room was identical to the one Gabriel and Sombra had found the body of Alicia Calvo. Concrete all the way around with gouges in the walls and a drain in the floor. Seated in the middle of the room was a chair that had been bolted down to face out the door.

Someone was still in the chair.

Gabriel turned away and shuffled off after Jack to try and breathe as Angela stood disgusted in front of the door. Gabe caught a few universally understood words as Angela’s ranting and screaming began echoing through the halls.

“ _This is not how you treat people!”_ she wailed, _“They are not here for someone else’s entertainment!”_

Lucy whined and danced around Jack’s feet as the hitman stood impossible still in the hall. Gabriel glanced at him in concern before turning back to where Angela was now sobbing in anger and repeatedly hitting the door.

“Ang, Angie,” He soothed, gently grabbing her wrist, “Come on. We need to keep going. Angela, please.”

“How can they do this to people?” she screamed as Gabriel hauled her into his arms and began carrying her towards Jack who had partially come back to reality and was looking at them with concern.

“We need to move,” Gabriel grunted as Angela struggled in his arms.

Jack nodded and began leading them down the hall quicker than before. Gabriel trotted after him with Angela curled halfway into his chest trying to calm down from her attack.

“In, two, three, four, out, two, three, four,” Gabriel whispered helpfully, earning a weak chuckle from the coroner.

After a few minutes Angela motioned to be put down and began jogging alongside the detective, a look of renewed determination creases her face as she clipped her caduceus to her back and sprinted up to Jack.

“Who else did they leave,” she asked, her tone stern and unwavering.

“Everyone who wasn’t important,” Jack said grimly, “Anyone deemed non-essential is killed like the guards you found or left in their cells to expire on their own.”

Gabriel swallowed hard, “Christ.”

“Can you show us?” Angela asked, looking to Jack with a war-hardened expression, “I want to tear down everything these bastards have ever built.”

The detective swore he could see the contempt coming of the pair in front of him when Jack nodded and Angela grinned. After another block Jack slowed and pointed down a hall labeled ‘Subject Quarters’.

“I can’t go down there,” he said.

“I understand. Gabe, come with me?” she asked, turning to him.

He hesitated but Lucy quickly trotted over followed her into what looked like a glorified kennel complete with chain link fencing acting as the doors. Angela carefully crept forward and pulled a camera out of her evidence belt before snapping pictures.

Gabe hesitated a moment before peeking in and seeing a barren concrete room that looked like a prison cell with nothing but the bare essentials, save for the large mattress in the corner piled with blankets. The closer he looked the more he could make out what looked to be a pale arm sticking out from the pile.

“I got what we need, let’s go,” Angela said, her face was incredibly pale as she grabbed his sleeve and hauled him back to where Jack was standing.

Just as they neared the hitman, a hail of green erupted around him and 209 practically flew around the corner, cackling as they collided, sending Jack to the floor and pinning him. Lucy barked but didn’t leave Gabriel’s side.

“You’re slower than I thought,” she sneered, pushing his chin up to inspect what she could see of his face, “And older, ew-”

Gabriel watched in mild amusement as Jack managed to flip his legs over her head, hook her chin, and sent her flying down the hall with an indignant squawk before scrambling to his feet and grabbing his gun.

“Rude,” 209 yelled, firing another round at him and barley dodging the Helix missiles, “Who bring missiles to a guns and fists fight?”

Gabriel skidded next to Jack and began unloading his shotguns, send the new hitman further down the hall in an attempt to get out of range.

“Hey! Who the fuck invited you?” she said, firing at Gabriel and managing to clip his shoulder, “This is a one on one!”

“Well now it’s a three on one!” Angel declared, skidding around the corner her caduceus powered up and attaching to Gabriel.

“Shit, pretty lady is going to kill me,” 209 said, ducking into another corridor.

Angela gave Gabriel a confused glance before Jack began running down a different hall with blue painted on the floor. The pair stumbled for a second to catch up but soon fell in pace with Jack as the went deeper into the darkness.

“Where are we going?” Gabe asked when he noticed the already cool air temperature begin to drop.

Jack slowed to a stop in front of the only door they’d seen in this hall, “Do you still have Athena with you?”

“Yeah?”

He nodded before spinning and kicking the door in to reveal a server farm. Lucy barked and lead the way into the freezing room.

“Where…?” Gabriel said, taking the data stick out of his pocket and handing it to Jack as he barricaded the door.

Angela gave the tech a funny look, “What is that?”

Gabe turned to explain when something else caught his attention.

“Athena,” Jack said, taking the stick from Gabriel and walking across the room to where a large console was hidden between towers, “She’s designed to download and send information.”

“To who?” she asked.

Gabriel turned and walked away from where the two began talking about something he didn’t care to register in favor of the glowing graffiti in the corner.

The picture was spread across three sever stacks and was so achingly familiar that it nearly brought him to his knees.

It was a geometric sugar skull.

Olivia’s favorite design.

The same one that she had made him order stickers of and stuck to every available surface she could. The same one she used as her profile pictures for her games and social media.

As he stared at it he noticed a small arrow pointing to a paper that had been jammed into one of the server housings. Carefully, he removed it and tucked the paper in the inside of his vest before heading back to the group.

[Athena Progress: 67%]

“Athena is uploading. We should be out of her in less than two minutes,” Jack said, turning to face the detective, “Hey… are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just…” he trailed off, catching the look of concern from Angela, “It’s nothing, I’ll tell you about it later.”

Lucy whined at him making Gabriel smile weakly as he knelt to pet her.

A sudden clang of metal echoed the severs as the door slammed back open. Green energy shot fired through the room making sparks jump from the housings.

“Rude!” 209 shrieked, launching herself at the group, “I though the Brit I knocked out early was annoying but you…”

Angela slid across the console to avoid the blow aimed at her but wasn’t fast enough as the hitman’s boot met her face and knocked her into the screen, shattering it. Her body hit the floor with a weak thud.

Gabriel roared in anger as he reached for his guns but found his arm in 209’s grasp as she spun and smashed his face into the console.

As he hit the floor he could only make out blurs of color and the report of Jack’s rifle. He pushed himself up to crawl slowly to Angela, wincing as glass from the screen dug into his arms

“Ang,” he whispered, relieved when she groaned but still unsettled by the blood dripping from her head. Gently, he rolled her onto her side before looking up to see Jack skid across the room.

209 ran at 76 again, missing the down swing of his rifle and slamming into his chest, effectively dropping the bigger hitman to the floor, winded.

“Ok, I’ll give you credit,” 209 wheezed, “You’re old but you can still kick some ass. I guess that’s why the big guys what you back so bad.”

Jack made a weak noise from the floor as he tried to get to his knees. Lucy barked and charged from her hiding place behind the stack of severs behind 209, giving her no time to react as Lucy locked onto her real arm.

The hitman yelped and instinctively shook her arm but instead drove Lucy’s teeth deeper into muscle. She stumbled back and tripped, hitting the floor with a thud before Lucy started dragging her across the floor.

“Let go!” 209 said, her metal arm began to glow a dangerous green color; the air crackled with energy

Gabriel threw himself over Angela as a burst of light flooded the room accompanied by a sharp yelp as Lucy went flying. She slidea few feet before going perfectly still on the floor.

Gabriel’s heart dropped, he started to stand until something poked the back of his arm.

[Athena Upload: 100%]

Jack screamed.

The detective barely turned his head in time to see Jack hurdling towards 209. Jack swung upwards with his rifle sending her into the server racks and denting the metal with the shear force.

Angela mumbled something under Gabriel as 209 was then picked up and sent flying over them with a small squeal.

“Ow, ow, ok I give,” 209 said, scooting a way as Jack towered over her, “You win, please don’t kill me… I have a wife and three kids?”

Jack grabbed her collar and hoisted her into the air. Blood dripped from her nose and forearm.

“What is your mission?” 76 barked, slamming her back against the wall.

“Shit, uh- They wanted me to capture you,” 209 stammered, her hands twisted in the air helplessly as 76 leaned closer, “They preferred you alive but other than that they told me I could shoot everything that moves.”

76 growled and dropped her, turning back to Gabriel. Just behind him, 209 slid something out of a pocket and lunged.

“Jack, watch out!”

Jack turned as 209 pressed the taser into his ribs and sent him into convulsions as the electricity disrupted his own circuitry and implants.

209 licked the blood from her lip and sneered, “You were more trouble than you were worth.”

She stepped over his body a meandered to where Gabriel was still hunched over Angela, “And you two,” 209 laughed, raising her arm “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

Just as she prepared to fire a rattle followed by a high-pitched war cry came from above. 209 looked up just as the vent grate above her fell along with a very pissed and bruised Lena.

“Shit,” 209 said before being knocked unconscious.

“Who’s cute now, cunt,” Lena spat, wiping dried blood from chin and turning to give Gabriel a wide grin, “Sorry boss, I’ll put a dollar in the swear jar when we get back.”

“Don’t worry about it kid,” Gabriel said, earning another groan from Angela who was starting to fully come around.

“What happened,” the coroner said, rolling onto her stomach and inspecting the room with blurry eyes, “Staff?”

Lena gave her a worried look before sliding the caduceus to her. The end popped open a whirled, bathing Gabriel and Angela in gold for a moment before powering down again.

Once he was sure Angela would be fine he stood to check on Jack who, by some miracle, had managed to stand up and was in the process of picking up Lucy.

“Jack?” Gabriel said, approaching slowly and placing and arm on his shoulder, “Jackie, I’m so sorry.”

Jack turned his head towards the detective tilted his head, “Why?”

Gabriel looked at him in confusion, “Lucy? She’s de-”

“No,” Jack chuckled carefully turning her head to lay on his chest, revealing wires running down her neck, “She’ll just need to be repaired.”

“She’s a robot?” Gabriel said, not quite processing the information. She looked so real.

“Hey!” Lena shouted, waving Athena above her head, “Angela said you needed this?”

Jack nodded and bumped against Gabriel, “We still need to find the others.”

“Right… Lena is Ang ok?”

“I’m ok,” Angela grunted as she pushed up against the console to stand. Blood stained her neck and collar but she other wise seemed ok.

“Let’s go than.”

\--

Without Eros: 209 chasing them the trek to find the others went much faster.

Lena still had to stop and stare at certain parts of the halls in horror and disgust but Angela made sure to keep her moving. Even Jack holding Lucy and having his massive rifle strapped to his back was moving faster than before.

“I see something,” Lena exclaimed after ten minutes of jogging. She bolted ahead despite the rest of the group’s protest, “It’s Jamie! Wait… Angela!”

Angela stumbled into a faster run, nearly losing her footing before skidding up next to Jamison’s still body. Blood was pooling from a stab wound in his shoulder and his breathing was shallow.

“He’s breathing, barely, we need to get out of here and to a hospital as soon as we can,” Angela said, quickly pulling out her first-aid kit and powering up the caduceus.

“If 209 was with us who else was-” Lena started before her eyes widened, “Where’s the captain? Where’s Mei?”

Panic swept through Gabriel when he realized they weren’t with Fawkes. Jack gave him a funny look before the detective bolted past his team.

“Wait, Gabe,” Jack.

“Ana! Mei! Where are you?” he screamed fear weaving through him as all he heard in reply was his own dull echo, “Ana!”

“Gabriel come back!”

Sounds blurred together as he continued to tear down the hall screaming himself hoarse until he slipped and landed on his back in another pool of blood. He scrambled up, slipping until his hand met something solid against the wall.

Ana’s rifle.

A sob tore through his chest as he pulled the weapon closer and pointed his flashlight at it.

 _“No, no, no, no, no,”_ he chanted, sliding a calling card from behind the trigger.

54 was neatly drawn in red across the cream-colored car with a morbid little smiley face next to it. He turned it over with shaking hands, not even registering Jack walking up to him.

_Eco-Point, Mongolia_

_Dr. Mei-Ling Zhou_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying, you're crying.
> 
> Jackson or 209 belongs to [Redbird25](https://redbird25.tumblr.com/)  
> Also; a reminder I have a writing tumblr so you can come yell at me over here [Katrandomwrites](https://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Who's ready? I'm (not) ready!
> 
> Updates should be weekly but I'm in college so who really knows. 
> 
> If you ever need anything tagged, please tell me! Your feedback is very important to me!
> 
> And if you have any questions or just want to talk, here is my [main tumblr](http://katrandomtiger.tumblr.com/) and [writing tumblr](http://katrandomwrites.tumblr.com/) , I am more then happy to talk to you!


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